Return of the Fire Ninja A Legend is Born
by Fellykins
Summary: Sequel to The Greatest Full-Fledged Shinobi. Takes place during Shippuuden era. Flame Pegasus has returned to Konoha and now she has to repair the chaos that ensued while she was gone. Rated M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

_Return to Konoha - Chapter One - Flame_

Konohagure. It was the Village Hidden in the Leaves, home to some of my best friends. I had left the village to find Orochimaru's hideout. Today was the day that I returned from my mission that I received two years ago. Now, it was time to see how much Konoha and the people that lived there had changed. I also knew that today was the day that Naruto and Jiraiya were supposed to return. Well, as long as Jiraiya didn't get drunk off of Sake.

When I reached the gates of Konoha, I saw two familiar faces. One was Hagane Kotetsu from my old Chunnin team and my former teammate, Yukirno Kaimaru. "Got placed at guard duty by Tsunade, did you?" I asked, grinning. I ended up becoming my normal self ever since we found out how to get my Sasuke back.

"Yeah, we did," Kaimaru and Kotetsu replied, "Now where's your permit?!"

I sighed; Konoha had gotten stricter. After a few minutes of searching in my bag, I finally found the stupid permit, waved it in both of their faces, then left, still carrying the permit. Tsunade had told me to head towards her office once I returned from the mission. Thinking about my mission made me think about my sister's mission with Kakashi. I had a very funny feeling that they did things that I did NOT want to know about.

When I reached Tsunade's office, she wasn't in there. Instead, it was Shizune-sama. "Hey, Shizune-sama?" I asked, wondering where Tsunade was.

"Yes, Flame-chan?"

"Where's Tsunade-sama? She told me to come see her when I got back from my mission," I replied. Shizune pointed to the door; I had a confused expression on my face at this point. "Tsunade's in one of the hospital rooms. Just look in all of them and you'll find her."

"Thanks, Shizune-sama," I replied. I then left the room, peeking into the hospital rooms as I passed by them. Most of the ninja looked like they were either Academy Students, Genin, or Chunnin. When I got to the room Tsunade was in, she was in there with another ninja. She was busy talking to him, so I stood and waited. As I was waiting, I saw someone with pink hair and a red dress. It looked exactly like Sakura. Why would she be here though? Unless the person Tsunade was talking to was... "Sa-Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl jumped, Tsunade turned around, and the blonde boy sat up; I grinned. "Flame-chan! You're back!" Sakura exclaimed, hugging me. I smiled, knowing that my friends still remembered me. Sakura let go as the blonde boy smiled. "You're back!"

"Yeah, Naruto-kun, I came back. Looks like you beat me in coming back, though."

"Yup! Now you owe me a meal at Ichiraku's!" Naruto yelled; he was happy. Tsunade glared at Naruto as if she was going to kill him.

"You're not going anywhere until your chakra comes back!" Tsunade said, practically yelling. She then turned to me. "You wait outside. I'll be with you in a minute," Tsunade said in a normal voice. I nodded and waited outside.

After an hour or so, Tsunade finally walked out to see that I wasn't standing outside the room anymore. She went to her office to find me sleeping in her chair. "FLAME, GET YOUR DAMN ASS OUTTA MY CHAIR!"

"Wha-What? Oh, sorry, Tsunade-sama!" I quickly stood up, not wanting to anger Tsunade anymore than I already had. As I sat down on the other side of the desk, Tsunade threw me my original headband. I caught it, not wanting to damage it.

"You can have that back, I got tired of staring at it," Tsunade chuckled. Her face then changed to a more serious one. "So, where's Orochimaru's hideout?"

"It's under Amegakure. You've gotta know a special password to get into it. I managed to find out from one of the Sound ninja named Kidomaru," I replied, adding in every detail she needed to know. Tsunade noted everything I had said down. Her expression had changed to a normal one. "Before you leave, I have two things to say."

"Is it good news or bad news? Or one of each? Because if there's bad news, I wanna hear the bad news first," I said. Bad news was always good to hear first because the good news always cheered me up.

"There's only good news. The first part is that I'm promoting you to Special Jounin," Tsunade said with a smile. The expression on my face changed from a normal one to a very surprised one.

"Are you serious? I'm going to be a rank higher than my sister?!" Tsunade nodded while I practically jumped out of my seat. This was defiantly something to rub in my sister's face.

"The other thing is that your sister still isn't back from her mission yet, but she's supposed to be returning later today. Hopefully, this time, not injured," Tsunade said with slight anger in her voice at the end, "You're also staying to help me heal some of the injured ninja. I'm dead tired of doing it myself and Shizune's no help. Sakura's staying with Naruto, Hinata's busy with clan duties, so the only one left is you."

"Okay, Tsunade-sama." I was standing with my back to Tsunade as if I was getting ready to leave, but instead, another ninja poofed in front of me, so I fell back into the chair. "I SWEAR TO—"

"Tsunade! Finally, I've found you! Kakashi and Zamina are at the village gates! Both of them are badly injured and could die!" the ninja said. I practically jumped out of the chair again. "ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?! YOU COULD'VE TOLD SHIZUNE FOR ALL I COULD'VE CARED!"

I practically raced out of Tsunade's office, wanting to at least help my sister before I annoyed the hell outta her.

Kakashi-sensei and my sister were laying on the ground, only because it was the only thing that Kotetsu and Kaimaru could think of. Now I know why Tsunade placed them at guard duty; they're idiots. I skidded to a stop beside Kakashi-sensei, kneeling down beside them to see what was wrong. They were both badly injured, but Kakashi was hurt more. _'Weird... Kakashi-sensei's hurt more than my sister. But their chances of survival... Kakashi-sensei's chances are more slim than my sister's since he probably tried to prevent her from getting hurt.'_

I rose from my kneeling position, looking into Konoha as if Tsunade and Shizune were coming; they weren't. "Where's Shizune and Tsunade?!" I asked Kotetsu and Kaimaru in a worried voice. They both pointed to the village, where Tsunade and Shizune were running with a few other medical ninja following them. Tsunade stopped next to me while Shizune and the other medical ninja picked the two injured ninja up and carried them to the hospital. Hokage-sama and I followed behind them. "You think there gonna be fine?"

"I dunno, Tsunade-Hokage-sama... When I examined them, Kakashi-sensei was hurt more than my sister."

"Well, you do have to remember two things. One of them is that Kakashi is in love with your sister. The second is that your sister was my student. She wouldn't give up that easily," Tsunade replied.

It has been three days since Kakashi-sensei and my sister returned from their mission. My sister spent most of her time sleeping or faking it, so I never went to see her much. Kakashi-sensei, on the other hand, was always awake every time I went to see him, even if he was holding a picture of himself, my sister, and a younger me in his hands.

Today, when I went to see him though, he wasn't holding the picture, but instead, trying to escape to see my sister. I wouldn't blame him, though. I mean, I would've done the same thing if Kakashi-sensei and Zamina-chan came to see me and Sasuke was always sleeping. Then again, when you were strapped to a bed, it was kind of hard to see the one you loved.

When I walked in the room, I saw Kakashi-sensei trying to grab a cane so he could get out of the room. I heard from Shizune that he tried to do the same thing earlier that day, so she placed the cane farther away from him. "And now I officially know why Kakashi-sensei is NOT allowed to be near or touch a cane when he's stuck in bed."

"Shut up, you damn rat," Kakashi said with a death glare, "You know you're not supposed to piss me off. Especially if I haven't seen your sister for over two days."

"Do missions count?"

"No, you damn idiot!" Kakashi yelled. He then sighed, as if he was worried. I sighed, assuming that I should tell him or live in the fear of getting my ass whipped every single day. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"What?" Kakashi asked in his still angry tone.

"Zamina-chan's getting out today... Pl-Please don't kill me for this. I just came to see if you were okay, then I was gonna go and tell her to come and see you."

"No, don't. I-I can't stand seeing her right now. Go tell her not to come and see me when she gets let out and to just head home," Kakashi replied, tears falling from his only visible eye. I decided to leave and head to my sister's room. I knew she was awake this time, and when I walked in, she was awake.

"Ha! I finally came when you were awake!"

"Damn it, you just got lucky," Zamina replied, laughing. I smiled, actually happy to see that she was happy. It only lasted for a few seconds, as the smile disappeared from my face and the expression changed to a worried look. I sat on the edge of my sister's bed, looking down at the ground. "Kakashi-sensei says for you to just go home and that he can't stand seeing you right now..."

"Wh-What do you mean?! Did Kakashi-sama really say that?!" the older ninja said, in a surprised voice; I nodded. "Why would he say that though?"

"I have no idea. All I know is that when I left, he was crying," I replied. My sister stood up, approaching the door. "Wait! Tsunade-Hokage-sama said—"

"I don't care what Tsunade said. I'm going to see him, whether he likes it or not," Zamina replied, barely whispering, but I could still hear her. She walked out of the room, leaving me in there alone with a surprised look on my face.

Flare: And there we go. The very first chapter of Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born.  
Flame: Yeah! And it's a PoV story! (And I'm first.)  
Sasuke: Too bad you pissed your sister off in the first chapter.  
Flare: HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE, SASUKE?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WITH OROCHIMARU!  
Sasuke: Ditched him... Besides, don't I come in the story in tw—  
Kakashi: You say it, you die.  
Flare: Yes, now read and review...  
Flame: SASUKE-KUN!!! *jumps on top of Sasuke*  
Flare: While I go find the damn bastard that gave her sugar...


	2. Chapter 2

Flare: You know, I've only started to write this chapter. Meh, I didn't even use a whole sheet of paper.  
Zamina: You wonder why.  
Flare: Bite me, ass.  
Gaara: Hello.  
Flame: GAARA-PANDA-CHAN! *huggles Gaara*  
Sasuke: GET AWAY FROM HER, DAMN IT!  
Flare: *sigh* Kakashi-sensei!  
Kakashi: What?  
Flare: I need you to go get me some damn permits for this... List of things. *hands Kakashi the list*  
Kakashi: Will do. *disappears*  
Zamina: *sigh* ... You had to send him. What do you need those permits for anyway?  
Flare: You'll see.

_Kakashi's Surprise and Gaara's Surprise - Chapter 2 - Zamina/Gaara_

As I walked into Kakashi's room, I saw Kakashi's sad and angry face. His hand slowly pointed to the door behind me as I approached him. "Kakashi-sama, please don't ask me to leave... I-I was—"

"I told your sister to tell you not to come and see me! Now leave!" Kakashi cried. I ignored him and continued to approach him.

"Kakashi, she told me. I-I was worried and n-needed to s-see you," I replied, tears falling from my eyes. This made Kakashi pull me into a hug. I knew that he didn't like to see me cry, so it was the only way to make him feel sorry for me.

"I-I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me," Kakashi replied, pulling me closer to him, "Why did you ignore me, though?"

"B-because I—" Before I even finished, Tsunade came in screaming like a mad man (or woman, whichever you prefer). Both Kakashi and myself sighed quietly, not letting Tsunade hear us. "LEAVE, NOW!!"

I left, not wanting to anger the Hokage anymore. _'Kakashi was surprised that I went to see him. I wonder how he's going to act when we have to go find Sasuke...'_ I smiled at that thought as I walked into my house, well, I should say my sister's house, as she was there more than I was. There was a blue hitai-ate being held in the air by my sister, who was laying on the couch.

"Sasuke-kun... Just give us some more time and we'll be there. I—" The new Special Jounin was cut off as I just randomly slammed the door shut.

"Hello." The red-haired girl sat up, looking over at me like I was crazy.

"Oh, hi. I was getting ready to leave to go and see Gaara..."  
*~*~* _Gaara's PoV_

I sat at the Kazekage's desk doing paperwork. I knew that Temari and Kankuro, my older brother and sister, were standing outside the door, guarding the door. As if I couldn't protect myself. Someone had knocked on the door as I just slammed a piece of paper on my desk.

"Gaara! Are you busy?" Temari called. Of course I'm busy! Is she a damn moron or something?

"Yes, Temari, I'm busy," I called back, trying my hardest to stay calm. Apparently, the person standing outside the door heard me... Whoever the hell that was...

"Aw, come on, Gaara-kun! I came all the way from Konoha to see you and this is how you act?! Maybe I'll just go back then!" someone else called back. It was Flame-chan... The very same Flame-chan that I had loved!

"C-come in!" Flame had walked in, then closed the door. She slowly walked up to me, as if I was going to use my sand to hurt her. I shrugged, stood up and approached her. Big mistake. She jumped on top of me, hugging me.

"Gaara! I haven't seen you since my mission!"

"Y-you were given a mission?" I asked after standing back up from getting tackled. The red-haired ninja nodded. I seemed surprised as she sat down in my chair. Why would Konoha give her a mission when she was worried about Sasuke?! "What was it for?"

"To find out where Orochimaru's hideout was. Which reminds me..." Flame started. She took out a scroll and tossed it to me. "This is from Tsunade-Hokage-sama. In case you want to join the mission."

I caught the scroll with my sand, not really wanting to catch it myself. It was already starting to get dark. Flame-chan would get hurt if I let her out on her own, possibly killed. "So how are you going to get back home?"

"Well... I was thinking that I could stay here for the night," Flame replied.

"Wh-what?! Sorry... Surprise. I guess you can stay here..." I sighed. Smart move, me... Smart move.  
*~*~* _Zamina's PoV - The next day_

I was sitting on the edge of Kakashi's bed, stroking his silver hair. He was still sleeping, but since today was the day that Tsunade was FINALLY letting him out, despite my begging, I came anyway. Tsunade walked in, noticed me, and opened her mouth to speak. "Don't say anything... He's still sleeping."

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! JUST BECAUSE YOU BEGGED HIS—" Tsunade started.

"I'd be a very happy ninja if you would just shut up," Kakashi muttered, as he sat up in the bed. Stupid Tsunade waking him up...

"Kakashi!" I turned around and hugged Kakashi, who hugged back.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be here," Kakashi whispered as I smiled. Tsunade just muttered something that neither one of could hear and turned to leave.

"Oh and Kakashi, you're free to leave whenever you want," Tsunade said before walking out the door to return to her office.

"I know you didn't expect me. I wanted to surprise you," I muttered, making Kakashi chuckle and smile behind his mask. Damn mask. Why can't he take the stupid thing off?! Kakashi pulled me closer to him, making me blush a tiny bit.

"I have something I want to ask you, but I guess it can wait until later... Like after the mission to retrieve Sasuke," Kakashi whispered into my ear. I glanced over at him with a confused look, but I decided to ignore it for now... At least until after the mission.

Kakashi: *returns with Flare-san's permits* What the hell are those for anyway?!  
Flare: Like I said to your ex-girlfriend, Zamina, you'll see.  
Kakashi and Zamina: WE'RE STILL GOING OUT, YOU DUMBASS!  
Flare: _I can still cancel my damned plans._ Feh, Gaara, come here!  
Gaara: *stands in front of Flare* What?  
Flare: I have a permit that allows me to take away your position as Kazekage! *shows Gaara the permit* But only if you don't stay away from Flame-chan.  
Gaara: D-deal!  
Flare: *places the permit on the top of the stack and takes it from Kakashi* Thank you, Kakashi-kun. *goes to put the permits in a secret room*  
Sasuke: Read and review, readers. So she'll get the chapter up faster and I get to see Flame-chan again! *has been reduced to tears*  
Flame: *huggles Sasuke* It's okay, Sasuke-kun...


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke: *has calmed down*  
Flare: *is putting multiple reinforcements on the door to prevent anyone from stealing her permits*  
Kakashi: *stroking Zamina's hair*

_Sasuke's Retrieval - Chapter 3 - Flame/Kakashi_

Today's the day. The very day that Uchiha Sasuke came home. The thought has crossed over my mind at least fifty times, maybe more. Sasuke-kun was coming back, and I wasn't coming back to Konoha without him. The team going to get Sasuke-kun consisted of Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi (who I didn't want coming), Zamina Pegasus (my moron sister who I didn't want coming either), Hyuuga Neji, Akimichi Choji, Kaimaru Yukirno (who got lucky enough to get let out of guard duty), Nara Shikamaru, and Tenten. I was already at the bridge, since I got up really early to be the first one. I was staring at my own reflection in the water. _'Sasuke-kun, we're coming. Just wait a little longer, please.'_

Oh yeah! We're also meeting up with the Sand Siblings. That would be Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Well, actually, just Kankuro and Temari. Gaara was coming to Konoha to meet up with us. Just looking at Gaara would probably make me sad by now, but since today's the day we get Sasuke back, I guess I have a right to be a little sad. Someone was walking towards me, since I could see it's reflection in the river. Well, it was blurry since I've been crying over Sasuke, but I could see it. The person had wrapped their arms around my waist, which scared me a little bit. "S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Guess again," the voice whispered. It sounded a lot like Gaara, but I couldn't tell. Well, it could be Kakashi-sensei or Jiraiya. It's always worth a shot!

"K-Kakashi-sensei?"

"Still wrong, Flame-chan," the voice replied. That's it! It was Gaara! It has to be Gaara!

"G-Gaara... I-I mean K-Kazekage-sama..." I sobbed. Yeah, before you even ask, I was crying before the mission. I know it's against the ninja code, but hey, the mission hasn't started yet.

"Took you long enough," Gaara smiled, "Oh and you don't have to call me Kazekage-sama."

I turned around and hugged Gaara. Sure, Sasuke would be mad if he was here, but I was sad because he WASN'T here. "Gaara-kun..."

Three hours later everyone arrived. Okay, everyone except Kakashi-sensei. Even my sister was here, and if he's not with my sister, then he's reading his damn porno books that I'm going to burn soon. I was facing the village, waiting for Kakashi-sensei to come. Gaara had wrapped his arms around me, only to make sure that I wouldn't cry. Kakashi finally came, after we sent Naruto to fetch him.

"Seems like I'm last," Kakashi chuckled. I glared at Kakashi. That damned moron! He's acting like one of his own Genin being missing is nothing.

"Shut up, Kakashi." It was the first time I had ever called my sensei that, but I was pissed, and when I'm pissed, everyone in the damn village knows. I then got out of Gaara grip and walked towards the forest. Sasuke was coming back from Otogakure, no matter what.

Sundown. The point in time at which we've reached Otogakure. Everyone but myself was to stay outside of the village, while I went in to find Sasuke. I quickly invaded Orochimaru's base as Kabuto, and because of this, I was able to get the key to Sasuke's room. When he heard me walking in, he turned around to face me.

"Bastard!" Sasuke yelled. He wasn't very pleased, and apparently he was too worried about me to realize that it was a Henge no Jutsu. I pulled Sasuke into a hug, but he only struggled. Since I figured that now was the time, I quickly kicked the door shut and transformed back into myself. "Sasuke-kun..."

"I-It's you... Y-you came..." Sasuke whispered, making me smile.

"Nice to know that you remember me. Now lets go and see if you remember Konoha," I whispered. I let go of Sasuke, only to have the door opened by Orochimaru.

"KABUTO! THE TEAM FROM KONOHA HAS ARRIVED TO RETRIEVE SASUKE! TAKE ALL OF THE SOUND NINJA EXCEPT FOR THE SOUND FOUR AND FIND AND KILL THEM ALL! I'LL HANDLE SASUKE AND HIS SAVIOR!" Orochimaru yelled. Apparently Kabuto had heard him because lots of commotion was caused. Sasuke grabbed my arm and threw me towards the bed.

"Stay out of this, Flame-chan. I'll kill this bastard," Sasuke muttered loud enough for myself and Orochimaru to hear.

"O-okay, S-Sasuke-kun..." Sasuke took out the Kusanagi Sword that Orochimaru had apparently given him. Orochimaru caught the sword with a slightly confused face.

"Now you have nothing to fight with... Except your little cursed seal and your bisexual girlfriend," Orochimaru said. This made me and my Sasuke-kun pissed off.

"Bastard! She's not... You'll die!" Sasuke yelled after pausing for a few seconds to rethink his sentence. The raven-haired boy took out a kunai and ran at Orochimaru. I knew exactly what was going to happen. Sasuke was going to beat the living shit out of Orochimaru, then we would both leave together.  
*~*~* _Kakashi's PoV_

"Damn it! There's too many!" Neji yelled. I noticed that he had just activated his Byakugan, going for quick kills. I was busy fighting Kabuto, only so I could protect Zamina-chan since he kept trying to go for her. The others were fighting off Sound Genin, Chunnin, and Jounin. This was just so messed up! How could we come here at sundown and still get ambushed?! I just hope that my two students are okay...

Flame: You're a true bastard...  
Flare: Why, thank you, Flame-chan.  
Flame: Welcome.  
Kakashi: *still stroking Zamina's hair*  
Flare: O_o? Is that the only damn thing that he can do?


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi: So, tell me, Flare. Exactly how long has it been since you've updated?  
Flare: Why do you care, Kakashi?...  
Kakashi: Because your readers have been waiting ages.  
Flare: Do I have to go find Rin to take that Sharingan out?  
Kakashi: No.  
Flame: Kakashi-sensei got owned!  
Flare: Flame-chan, me and you are going to have some private lessons...

_Sasuke's Coming Back and the New Mission - Chapter 4 - Temari/Sasuke/Sakura_

Battles continued for the group outside of the compound. Lots of blood was flying around from Gaara's Sabaku Sousou jutsu. Corpses were laying around on the ground; they were dead Oto-nin. It felt like we were only doing this to weaken our chakra supply for the real fight... At least, that's what I thought. I tried my hardest to push these thoughts to the back of my head as I fought an Oto Chuunin.  
*~*~* _Sasuke's PoV_  
"Katon!" I began, pausing to jump up, "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A large fireball was shot from my mouth as I finished the required hand seals for the Goukakyuu no Jutsu. My girlfriend stared wide-eyed at me as I continued to fight Orochimaru. That was right; every time I sparred with her, I never showed her my true strength. I guess it was because I was afraid as to what would happen if I did.

"Sasuke! Behind you!" a familiar voice cried. I quickly whipped around and blocked Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword with a kunai.

"Sasuke, you know you want to come to me for power..." the snake-like man hissed. Orochimaru had barely dodged the kunai someone had thrown at him when we jumped back.

"Cold-hearted baka..." Flame whispered, loud enough for Orochimaru and myself to hear. I looked over to Flame-chan, who wasn't sitting on the bed anymore; she was the one who had thrown the kunai since there weren't any other chakra sources around. My gaze slowly moved over to the girl, as she sat back down on the bed. As I slowly began to turn back to Orochimaru, I saw the younger girl begin to fall down. I quickly moved, grabbing the red-haired girl as I skidded to a stop by the bed. Orochimaru had two poison senbon in his hands, which was what I assumed had poisoned Flame-chan.

"You-you're trying to kill her! Well—" I was then cut off by sand pulling me out of the room and away from Orochimaru. It was Gaara; it had to be Gaara, since he was the only one who could control sand because of Shukaku, one of the many bijuu that Akatsuki was looking for.

"We're taking you two back to Konoha. After all, we don't want our little friend her dying, now do we?" Gaara calmly stated.  
*~*~* _The next day_  
We were back in Konoha. Everything was fine in the village, except for the fact that my girlfriend was stuck in the hospital since the snake-like bastard poisoned her. I leaned against the bridge railing, facing the water so that I could look down on it. There was no training today, due to the fact that it would — as Naruto called it — no fun with out Flame. The baka did have a point for once in his life. Once we got back to the village, Kakashi and Zamina had left for Hokage Mountain; Naruto went to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop; Sakura had to go to the hospital with Tsunade to help out there; Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro went back to Sunagakure; Kaimaru and Kotetsu had guard duty; and I was left all alone, with no one to talk to except myself. I quietly sighed, wondering if someone would come and talk to me. I couldn't run away from Konoha again; it would sadden Flame-chan.

It was already night time in Konoha, and the moon shone on the river that I had been staring down at for hours on end. Sakura had been right; Konoha was much more peaceful at night. At that moment, someone pushed me off the bridge, thus making me fall face first into the river. The person that had pushed me was laughing, so I jumped back up and grabbed the person by their neck.

"Open your eyes... Sasuke-kun! It's me!" the younger girl gasped. I quickly let her go, as if I had held her for any longer, she would've died.

"I-I'm sorry, Flame-chan. I-I-I didn't know it was you!" I cried.

"It's okay, Sasuke. It really is," the red-haired girl said in a comforting-like voice, "Everyone can change, Sasuke, even you."  
*~*~* _The next day, Sakura's PoV_  
I had just finished putting my gloves on and brushing my bubble gum pink hair when someone knocked on the door. I quickly rushed downstairs and opened the door to see Hatake Kakashi, my old sensei.

"Kakashi, what are you doing here?"

"We're getting another mission, but this time, we're working with Asuma's team," Kakashi replied, adjusting his mask for what looked like the fifth time since I had answered the door.

"Okay, that's fine... But, um, what exactly were you doing before you came here?" I asked in response to the fact that Kakashi had fixed his mask at least five times. The Jounin blushed and became seemingly happy at the sound of the question. At that, I just walked outside, closed and locked my door, and continued on to the hospital. "Forget I asked, Kakashi..."  
*~*~* _At the hospital_  
I walked into my teammate's room, who was eating breakfast slowly. She didn't even notice me, but I suppose that her knowing about the mission would make her happy.

"Hey, Flame...?" All I heard was a quiet grunt, which was her way of saying to continue. "We're going on another mission... But this time, it's with Asuma's team. And I think Kakashi's done something with your sister."

The tray that was on her lap fell to the ground as the red-haired Tokubetsu Jounin jumped out of the hospital room, going in search of her sister. _'Maybe I should go and stop her... But then I would get yelled at by Tsunade-Hokage-sensei...'_

Flare: *yawns and stretches* It's been so long, I've forgotten how to spell...  
Kakashi: Seriously?  
Flare: Baka. Read and review, readers. It makes me sane and happy! ^_^  
Kakashi: Seriously...?  
Flare: ...And I need to go find out where Masashi Kishimoto lives so I can get permission to kill Kakashi.  
Sasuke: Seriously...?  
Flare: *whispering to Sasuke* No, not seriously. But don't tell him.  
Sasuke: Oh. 


	5. Chapter 5

Flare: My head hurts like hell...  
Kakashi: May I ask why?  
Flare: I guess. *softly rubs her head*  
Kakashi: Why?  
Flare: I hit my head on the skating floor 'cause some retard tripped me.  
Kayaku [My other half for those who don't know]: ...You're that retard.  
Flare: Die in a hole, Kayaku.

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 5 - Mission! Kaze no Kuni, A Jinchuuriki Missing! [Flame/Zamina/Asuma/Kakashi/Naruto]

_'When I find that sick bastard, I'll kill him!'_ I mentally screamed. I hopped the roofs as fast as I could to find Hatake Kakashi, my sister's current, but not for much longer, fiancee. There were a few places where he could've been. Ichiraku's, that ramen stand that Naruto goes to; he wasn't there, according to Naruto. Hokage Mountain, which was the location I was headed for as of right now. Of course, there was still one place left for me to check if he wasn't there. That was the Public Park, where the two would be walking... Or kissing. Whichever Kakashi preferred.

I finally reached Hokage Mountain, after speaking with Haruno Sakura, stopping by Sasuke's house, AND returning to Ichiraku's because Naruto was broke, so I had to pay for his meal. I immediately saw the silver-haired Jounin and crossed my arms. "Hatake Kakashi, you have five seconds to stop kissing my sister before I get Tsunade."

Silence reigned all over the next ten seconds, even though I was only supposed to give them five. I created a Kage Bunshin, which left to go find Tsunade. I waited, watching the two Jounin, wondering when they would stop kissing. A blonde woman eventually appeared, hovering over the two screwed Jounin.

"Hatake Kakashi... Zamina Pegasus... TO MY OFFICE NOW!" Tsunade roared, causing both Jounin to jump up and face the Hokage, who turned to face me, "You too, kiddo. I need to see you as well."

_'Why would she need to see me? Unless it has something to do with Gaara or Sasuke-kun...'_  
*~*~* _Zamina's PoV_  
Kakashi, Flame, and myself all stood in front of Tsunade's desk as she sat down. She had a somewhat angry look on her face, which had scared my little sister.

"Hatake, you should be training your team for that mission with Asuma!" Tsunade started.

"Um, excuse me for just a second, Tsunade-Hokage-sama, but what mission?" Flame inquired. I knew that everyone on her former Genin team knew about the mission. Haruno was supposed to tell her, but I guess she never did.

"I'll explain that once I'm done with these two bakas," Tsunade stated before returning to Kakashi and myself, "Now, Zamina, you are supposed to be on duty in the hospital today, helping Shizune! You know who had to do your work for you?"

"Haruno?"

"NO! It was Shizune! So you're working double after your mission with Kakashi and Asuma!" Tsunade screamed. She was pissed; I could tell. Her attention turned to Kakashi.

"And you, Hatake, should be with your former Genin team! I've already sent Shizune to go find Uchiha, Haruno, Uzumaki and Yukirno for you! Both you and your girlfriend are dismissed! Flame, you stay!"

"Hai, Tsunade!" Kakashi and myself said before immediately disappearing.  
*~*~* _Flame's PoV_  
I had flinched at Tsunade's volume of her voice. Before she even had a chance to start, I asked just one tiny question. "Tsunade-Hokage-sensei?"

"Hm?" Tsunade calmly asked. I could tell from the sound of her voice that she had calmed down, but I wasn't completely sure.

"I'm not going to get yelled at, am I?" I asked.

"No because unlike your sister, you know what the hell you're doing, which is why you're my favorite student," Tsunade calmly said, "Now, about that mission."

"Yeah, Sakura told me that we have a mission, but I was more focused on getting my sister first, which is why I sort of left the hospital without telling anyone."

"Well, then, I should go into more detail. Gaara's been taken by Akatsuki. Deidara and Sasori attacked the village yesterday. They plan to extract Shukaku, the Biju inside of Gaara."

"So Gaara's already been taken?" Tsunade nodded, noticing that tears slowly filled up in my eyes.

"I don't want you going on this mission, though..."

"Wh-what?! But why not?!" I cried. Sure, I had loved Gaara just a tiny bit, but he was still my friend!

"One, you're still poisoned. Two, I'm too worried that your feelings might get in the way," Tsunade sighed, somewhat worried about what would happen to me, "And if you even THINK about sneaking on this mission, I'll make you work with Hagane after you return!"

"Hai, sensei..." I slowly walked out of the office, wanting to tell Sasuke the bad news as soon as possible.  
*~*~* _One week later, Asuma's PoV_  
I flicked my cigarette towards the nearby grass, as I continued to listen to Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Haruno Sakura argued over something completely random. They weren't the only ones going on the mission, though. Hatake Kakashi and his girlfriend, Uchiha Sasuke, and Yukirno Kaimaru were joining us. They were supposed to arrive in exactly five minutes. Knowing Kakashi, however, he'll probably show up two hours late.

"Hey, who wants to go find Kakashi so we're not waiting for two hours on him?"

"No one!" Uzumaki, Haruno, Nara, and Yamanaka chorused. Choji shook his head. I sighed; this was going to take longer than I thought...  
*~*~* _One hour later_  
After one hour of waiting, Hatake finally arrived. At least it wasn't two hours, as I thought.

"Now, does everyone know about the mission?" Everyone nodded.

"Everyone except for me," a familiar voice stated. Uchiha was the first to notice. I was the second. As for everyone else, well, no one cares about them, right?

"Well, well, if it isn't little Flame..." I stated, making Sasuke grin. Kakashi sighed, and Zamina had a somewhat pissed off look on her face.

"YOU SHOULD BE AT HOME!" Zamina roared. I noticed that the red-haired girl grinned.

"Tsunade said that I could come. I had to beg her into it, but she did say yes," the red-haired girl replied.

"Well, then, we'll fill you in on the way to Sunagakure, okay?" Flame nodded. We all walked towards the village gates, finally going on the mission.  
*~*~* _Two hours later, Kakashi's PoV_  
"So do you get it?" Asuma inquired, after explaining it to one of my former student four times.

"Yeah!" Flame stated. I should mention, we're supposed to be meeting up with Temari and Kankuro, the taken Jinchuuriki's brother and sister. It was supposed to take two days to get to Suna and meet up with the two ninja, so we planned to stop soon.  
*~*~* _An hour later_  
"Okay, we're stopping," I calmly stated. We started to set up camp. I gave everyone a task. Uzumaki and Uchiha had to go get firewood, Sarutobi and myself were setting up the tents, and Zamina and her sister were making dinner for everyone. Sakura was supposed to keep watch, since Sasuke and Naruto were supposed to return in thirty minutes.

"Why do we always have to have what YOU want?! I'd rather have ramen!" Flame yelled. Apparently, Zamina and Flame were having an argument over what to make for dinner. I sighed, not exactly wanting to get involved. Of course, I didn't want to hear much more of it, I decided to jump in.

"Why don't you just make BOTH things and shut the hell up." This did shut them up. At this point, Flame began making ramen, while Zamina began making curry.  
*~*~* _Naruto's PoV_  
I picked up as many sticks as possible. Kakashi-sensei had sent Sasuke and myself to go get firewood and return in thirty minutes. Sasuke took branches off of trees, not exactly working as fast as me. "Hey, Sasuke, why are you working so slow?"

"Because I don't feel like getting firewood. I'm tired," Sasuke replied. He even sounded tired.

"Well, do you want to carry the firewood?" I asked. I didn't mind carrying it, but since Sasuke was tired, I offered anyway.

"Wouldn't this be enough?" I dropped the pile of firewood we had. It did look pretty big, and we had only been out in the forest for fifteen minutes at the most.

"Yeah, this will defiantly be enough," I stated. We started to head back to camp, with Uchiha carrying the firewood.

Kakashi: It's not good enough.  
Flare: Kakashi.  
Kakashi: Yes?  
Flare: Shut the hell up. My head was in PAIN last night, so I had a night's worth of writer's block, okay?  
Sasuke: Writer's block?  
Flare: *muttering to herself* Damn me for ever speaking Fanfic in front of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi: This is unusual...  
Flare: What's unusual? Kayaku's random appearance and death threats or that I've already started typing this chapter before a month's been completed?  
Kakashi: Is both an option?  
Flare: Sure.  
Kakashi: Okay then. Both.  
Flare: *looks around* Hey! Where's Uzumaki and Uchiha?  
Zamina: On the roof. Why?  
Flare: Oh damn... Excuse me for a moment. *walks away*

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 6 - Uchiha Itachi vs Uchiha Sasuke? Flame's Secret Revealed! [Sasuke/Kakashi/Sakura/Flame/Gaara]

"Sasuke-kun! Wake up!" I jumped up, grabbing a kunai at the same time.

"Who the hell decid—" I started.

"Morning, Sasuke!" Flame interrupted, smiling. I looked around the camp; no one else was awake at all.

"Why are you waking me up so early?!" I asked, somewhat pissed off. The younger girl grinned, pointing to Kakashi, who was watching both of us.

"Kakashi-sensei told me to wake you up. It's your turn to take watch," the girl replied. I nodded, walking over to Kakashi.

"Good morning, Sasuke."  
*~*~* _Later that morning_  
"I don't want ramen!" Sakura and Flame yelled. At this rate, we were defiantly going to get caught by Akatsuki or some other foreign ninja. Sakura, Flame, and Naruto were arguing over what we were going to have for breakfast.

"Just make something," I stated, annoyed by the three shinobi arguing. They scrambled around, gathering ingredients to make something. Moments after the argument, ramen was served again. Twice in a row that we had ramen during this whole damned mission. If we had it one more time, someone would defiantly go insane. Of course, I wouldn't go insane because I need to keep my strength up to kill Itachi. The Uchiha clan NEEDED to be avenged by me, the last survivor of the clan besides Itachi.  
*~*~* _Later that day, Kakashi's PoV_  
"Kakashi-sensei?"

"What do you want now, Naruto?" I asked, slightly annoyed. Then again, Flame, Sasuke, and Sakura seemed annoyed as well since this was his ninth question he's asked all day long.

"How much longer do we have to walk until we get to where we're supposed to be going?"

"We're almost there, Uzumaki," Sasuke replied, "Also, to prevent your—"

"We're going to Sunagakure, before you even ask," Sakura stated. The Uchiha sighed since he was interrupted. We continued to hop the trees towards the desert, where Sunagakure was. We were supposed to meet up with Gaara's brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari.  
*~*~* _At Sunagakure, Sakura's PoV_  
"Temari!"

"Sakura-chan!" Temari cried back. We had met up with Temari and Kankuro after what had felt like hours of walking with Naruto's non-stop questions.

"Hey, Flame!" Kankuro called.

"My answer's no, Kankuro. I refuse to go out with you," the Tokubetsu Jounin calmly replied. Sasuke had glared at Kankuro, who had glared back.

_'Men... They're so hopeless.'_ I glanced back at the rest of the team, who had been looking at my best friend, Flame, as if they wanted answers from her.

"I was going to ask where Akatsuki's Hideout was," Kankuro replied, after finishing his little glaring contest with Sasuke.

"A-Akatsuki's Hideout?" the red-haired girl inquired. Kankuro and Temari didn't know about her fear of Akatsuki.

"Yeah, where is it?" my former sensei, Hatake Kakashi asked. All of the other ninja except Flame, Temari, and myself kept asking the Tokubetsu Jounin where Akatsuki's Hideout was. Everyone that was sent on this mission knew that during the two and a half years that we were split up that Flame was sent on a mission to find both the Akatsuki Hideout and Orochimaru's Hideout. I heard from Shizune that she had only found Orochimaru's Hideout. Unless she had done some research since we had returned from our mission of retrieving Uchiha Sasuke, she was screwed.

"I never got a chance to find Akatsuki's Hideout. I-I got ambushed by shinobi from O-Otogakure when I got close to Orochimaru's Hideout. I-I'm..." the Tokubetsu Jounin stopped. Temari and myself looked confused; Sasuke, on the other hand, smirked. I assumed that he knew what she was going to say.

"Stop. Don't say anything else," Asuma said, "We get it."

"Flame?"

"Hn."

"I need to talk to you," the Uchiha replied. My best friend and the guy that I used to like walked outside. Knowing them, they were probably going to go somewhere private.  
*~*~* _Somewhere in Sunagakure, Flame's PoV_  
"Sasuke?" The Uchiha ignored me. Typical Sasuke.

"You failed your mission, didn't you?" the Uchiha asked. Of course, he was going to go straight to the point. I had no choice but to answer truthfully. If I didn't, I was screwed.

"Y-yes... I-I f-failed..."

"Hn," Sasuke replied, walking away from me. Tears wanted to fall from my eyes badly, but it would be against the ninja code to let your emotions get in the way of the mission.

"Sasuke, wait!" I sobbed. Damn, I started crying. The Uchiha turned around with an "I-don't-care-what-you're-going-to-say-next" expression.

"What do you want?" the Uchiha inquired. I might as well spit it out now. It would be better now since I was in a bad mood anyway.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I hate you," I coldly stated as I walked past him. His reaction? He grabbed me by my jacket-like shirt. I only wore it when I came to Kaze no Kuni because for some odd reason, it felt cold to me. The Uchiha then glared at me.

"Baka. You're just like Uzumaki Narut—" Sasuke started.

"Hello, Uchiha Sasuke," a cold, dark voice said. I turned to face the person. Uchiha Itachi, the very same person who slaughtered the Uchiha clan.

"Tsukuyomi!" At this very second, the younger Uchiha threw me down towards the ground. The result? My face hit the sand. I decided to stay down because of the results of Tsukuyomi.

_'Uchiha Sasuke, don't die on me now.'_  
*~*~* _Somewhere at the Akatsuki Hideout, Gaara's PoV_  
I squinched my eyes so I could see if I could figure out where I was. Bars and one small window. I was locked up in some sort of prison at the Akatsuki Hideout.  
"Hey, you. The kid with the gourd," the other person in the prison-like room called. I turned to face the spot where the noise was coming from. There was one other person in the room with me.

"What Biju do you have?" I blinked in confusion before remembering Shukaku.

"Shukaku. The one-tailed racoon," I replied. The person who was in the room with me had black hair with pink highlights for her bangs.

"Oh... Well, Gaara, I'm Mitokiya Kaylie, the container for the five-tailed dog, Gobi," the girl, Kaylie, replied. I have to admit, she looked kind of cute, but Flame's still cuter.

_'I like this girl. She's cute,'_ Shukaku stated.

_'Shut the hell up, Shukaku.'_

Naruto and Sasuke: *chained to a wall on separate sides of the room*  
Kakashi: Why chain them?  
Flare: Because it's more fun that way.  
Kakashi: Oh, I see.  
Flare: Who wants ramen?!  
Naruto, Sakura, Temari, Kankuro, and Kakashi: I do!  
Flare: Everyone except for Naruto gets ramen tomorrow! PARTY!  
Zamina: Please read and review. It helps us raise money to get more ramen. =D


	7. Chapter 7

Flare: I'm updating! I'm actually updating! I'm so happy!  
Zamina: Of course you are...  
Flare: Yes, I am!  
Zamina: Is this the last story that we're tortured in?  
Flare: Not exactly. I have a few more stories already planned. Read my profile sometime, Zamina.  
Kakashi: She can't. She's always with me.  
Flare: Of course she is...  
Naruto: Disclaimer?  
Flare: Yeah, I actually have a creative one this time! I'm not using it until I update, however.  
Naruto: If you remember...  
Flare: I will. It has to do with ramen. How could I forget?  
Naruto: Bad memory.

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 7 - Naruto's Happiness! The New Mission! [Gaara/Sasuke/Temari/Kakashi/Flame]

"Gaara! Wake up!" Kaylie cried.

"I'm not sleeping," I replied, "If I do sleep, Shukaku will take over."

Kaylie and I froze as we heard footsteps. That was probably why she told me to wake up. The Akatsuki was coming for one of us. It was either Kaylie or myself. The footsteps stopped. The cell door opened, revealing the Akatsuki member. To be honest, he looked more like a shark than a human.

"Hello, Gaara, Kaylie. I'm Hoshigake Kisame," the shark-like man stated, "Gaara, you're coming with me."  
*~*~* _Somewhere in Sunagakure, Sasuke's PoV_  
"Well, well, Sasuke... Long time, no see."

"Shut up!" I yelled. Just seeing Itachi had made me mad. After all, he had tried to use Tsukuyomi on my girlfriend.

"Sasuke," a voice whispered, "You're not fighting your brother alone..."

"No. You're not helping," I stated, "Go get the others and continue the mission without me."

The red-haired girl nodded before disappearing. This was my fight, and my fight only. I pulled out eight kunai; four for each hand. It's either Itachi or myself going down today. I just want it to be Itachi.  
*~*~* _With Temari and company, Temari's PoV_  
Someone had barged in through the doors. Everyone had gotten into a fighting stance in case it was Akatsuki or another enemy. Instead, it ended up being Flame, so we all lowered our guards.

"Oh... It's just you," Asuma stated. The red-haired girl glared at Asuma before turning to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"What is it, Flame?"

"I need to talk to you," the red-haired girl started before turning to her sister, "ALONE."

Her last word, "ALONE," seemed to make people think that something was important. The two ninja walked outside of the house. Flame's sister, Zamina, seemed to be pretty mad at her younger sister. It was probably because she was left out of the conversation. Then again, not everyone can have their way.  
*~*~* _Outside of the house, Kakashi's PoV_  
"Okay, so what's so important that you needed to drag me out here?"

"He's back," the young Tokubetsu Jounin stated. I had no idea what she meant until I thought of Sasuke. It was Itachi; he was here in Sunagakure right now.

"I'm sending a squad under your command to help Sasuke," I calmly stated.

"Sasuke said he didn't want any help," Flame replied.

"I don't care. I'm not letting my students get killed."  
*~*~* _Back inside the house_  
"Naruto, Sakura," I paused, looking for another person to help out, "And Temari, I need to speak with you three privately."

Flame, Naruto, Sakura, and Temari followed me upstairs to the Kazekage's office. Once we were inside, I slammed the door shut to get their attention.

"Naruto, Sakura, Temari, all three of you are going on a side mission. You are to help Sasuke defeat Itachi."

"But Kakashi-sensei, who's going to watch over us?" Naruto inquired.

"I am."

"You're watching over us? But you're only a Tokubetsu Jounin! That's not even a full-fledged Jounin!"

"Tsunade-Hokage-sensei won't let me be a Jounin. I don't know why that is, but it's none of my business. Kakashi's letting me watch over you three, so deal with it."

"But F—" Naruto started.

"Enough, Naruto. We're leaving now."  
*~*~* _Outside of the house, Flame's PoV_  
"Okay. Our mission is to help Sasuke defeat Uchiha Itachi. Just follow me, and we won't have any problems."

"Okay, but how do you know this?" Sakura asked. I closed my eyes because of the question. There was going to be no more crying for me during this mission. I didn't want to break the ninja code anymore...

"That's none of your business, Sakura," I calmly replied, "Now let's go."

We began running towards the place where my Sasuke and Itachi were fighting. The only thing I could hope for at the time was for Sasuke to still be alive when I got there.

Flare: Damn. It ended up being a sad chapter.  
Zamina: Your last chapter's going to be a sad chapter too, isn't it?  
Flare: ...I don't know. Geh, now you're making me feel sadder.  
Kakashi: Well, readers, please read and review if you choose to. It will make Flare-san very happy


	8. Chapter 8

Flare: Update madness for me! Yay!  
Flame: I thought it was update party, not update madness.  
Flare: Well, it's my summer vacation, so I can have a summer fanfiction madness update party.  
Flame: So that mean there's more chapters.  
Sasuke: Sadly, yes. But it also means t—  
Flame and Zamina: Damn.  
Sasuke: As I was saying, it also means that the fanfiction will go faster, which means we'll be free sooner.  
Flame and Zamina: Oh. Yay then.  
Flare: Well, Zamina gets more torture. So does Kakashi.  
Zamina and Kakashi: Damn it to hell.  
Flame: So, it's an update madness, right?  
Flare: Yes, now let's get the second chapter of the madness started!

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 8 - Mission: Defeat Uchiha Itachi [Flame/Sasuke/Kisame/Itachi]

I stopped; everyone else behind me stopped as well. Of course, they all had confused looks on their face. It was mostly because they didn't know why I stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" Naruto asked. I completely ignored Uzumaki's question. At the moment, I was too focused on the battle between the Uchihas. From the point that I was standing at, it looked like Sasuke was losing.

"Follow me, and don't say a word," I whispered loud enough for the ninja behind me to hear. We slowly moved forward as we all pulled out multiple kunai and shuriken. I was not letting Sasuke die yet; not before we said good bye. We slowly picked up our pace before I stopped about three kilometers away from the fight. I threw all of my kunai and shuriken at one of the Uchihas. It was hard to tell which one was which from the angle that we were at.

After a few seconds, both of the battling shinobi fell. As soon as they both hit the ground, the whole team, including myself, ran over to the two shinobi. I glanced at the two bodies; Uchiha Itachi was the one who was hit with my kunai and shuriken. The other Uchiha slowly sat up with the help of Uzumaki and Haruno.

"Sasuke!" I cried. I quickly sat down next to him to see how badly injured he was. My eyes widened at the sight; he wouldn't be able to finish the real mission with us. I had to quickly close my eyes to prevent tears from falling.

"Temari, Haruno, carry Uchiha Sasuke. Uzumaki, go back to the house, and prepare a bed for Sasuke," I stated, slowly opening my eyes.

"Okay!" the three ninja chorused. Temari and Sakura carefully picked up the injured Uchiha and began walking back to the house. Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke to prepare the bed for the Uchiha. I stayed back to watch the other Uchiha. He didn't seem to be moving, so I bent down to check his pulse. Itachi still had a heartbeat, so I assumed that Sasuke didn't kill him.  
*~*~* _At the house, Sasuke's PoV_  
I slowly opened my eyes to see a white ceiling. I looked around to see if I could figure out where I was. After I stopped looking around, I heard the door open and close.

"Nice to see that you're up, Sasuke," a familiar voice stated.

"I-is he dead?"

"If you mean Itachi, then no. He's still alive, just unconscious probably," the red-haired girl replied, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Why did you come and help?"

"Kakashi's orders. He wouldn't listen to me when I told him that—"

"I know. I understand," I quietly stated, stopping the Tokubetsu Jounin before she finished. The red-haired girl then stood up.

"Well, then, I'll just leave you alone now." The Tokubetsu Jounin then walked out of the room, after kissing Sasuke's forehead.  
*~*~* _At the Akatsuki Hideout, Kisame's PoV_  
"Kisame!" a familiar, mysterious voice yelled. I already knew what it was about. The Akatsuki Leader wanted to know where Uchiha Itachi was. The only thing that I knew was that he was going to try and capture the Kyuubi.

"What do you want?"

"Where is Uchiha Itachi?" he asked. Of course, I was right.

"He told me that he was going to get the Uzumaki kid," I replied. The leader snarled and glared at me. I had no idea why he was snarling and glaring at me. Then, it came to me; Shukaku's extraction was supposed to happen today.

"I suppose you want me to go get him?"

"No, he can use the Astral Projection Jutsu to help with the extraction," the leader replied before walking away. After he was far away, I let out a deep sigh. At least I wouldn't be getting in any trouble.  
*~*~* _Somewhere in the desert, Itachi's PoV_  
I slowly stood up, taking in my surroundings once more. I was knocked out by my brother's girlfriend of all people.

"The extraction. Today's that day," I quietly mumbled. At the moment, I was somewhere in Kaze no Kuni, far away from the hideout. There was no way that I would make it back in time to actually show up for the extraction. There was only one option; the Astral Projection Jutsu. I made the correct hand sign for the jutsu and slowly began running back to the hideout. After all, the leader would have to know by now that I was gone.

Flare: Done! Finally!  
Flame: And we're one chapter closer to being free... Well, everyone except for two of us.  
Kakashi and Zamina: SHUT UP ALREADY!  
Flame: No.  
Flare: Meh, I'll let you men and women argue.


	9. Chapter 9

Flare: I'm finally starting on this chapter. I'm damned busy too... I HAVE to find time to get this fanfiction thing working out for me.  
Naruto: I thought you were just posting so your stories don't get deleted.  
Flare: I am. I'm letting my faithful readers know that I'm still alive. ^.^  
Sakura: So shouldn't you get started?  
Flare: DIE, SAKURA, DIE! *chases Sakura with a long metal pole in hand*

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 9 - Gaara Dies pt. 1! [Sakura/Sasori/Zamina]

"We're leaving already?" I cried.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei wants us to leave now. You're coming with Naruto, Sasuke, Kankuro, and me," the Tokubetsu Jounin stated, "I'll be the one who's leading the group."

"Did you choose Sasuke because he's your boyfriend?"

"No!" Flame cried, blushing; I giggled before I got out of bed. The Tokubetsu Jounin left the room, slamming the door shut as she left.  
*~*~* _Twenty minutes later, in the living room_  
"You all know your jobs, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Hai!" everyone but Kakashi chorused.

"Good," Kakashi stated, "Flame, take your team and go."

"Hai," the girl with red hair replied before taking her team and leading them outside.  
*~*~* _At the Akatsuki Hideout, Sasori's PoV_  
Everyone in the Akatsuki was here except for one member; that member was Uchiha Itachi. A silhouette of the Uchiha appeared as the leader walked in.

"We are going to begin the extraction of Ichibi no Shukaku now," the leader stated.

"Hai," the whole Akatsuki except for the leader chorused.

"Genryuu Kyuu Fuujin!" everyone in the Akatsuki, including myself, cried. The three day and night extraction process began.  
*~*~* _Somewhere in the desert, Zamina's PoV_  
"Well, we're in the desert, we have three days before they begin the extraction process, and we are screwed," I stated, listing three facts about our current situation. We were tired and we had to find a ninja named Chiyo and make it to the Akatsuki Hideout in three days.

"Let's just continue," Kakashi stated as we began to slowly pick the pace back up yet again. At least the other group was farther ahead, so they had a chance of delaying the extraction for a few days.

"But what if they begin the extraction early?" Temari asked.

"Then we just have to hope we get there in time to stop it," Kakashi replied.

We slowed down after five minutes as we reached a hut in the desert area. Temari knocked on the door as I used Kakashi as support to help me stand up as my legs were tired from walking and running. An old woman had eventually opened the door.

"Hello," the old woman stated, "Come in."

We walked into the house and I quickly sat down on the couch without invitation. Kakashi sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders protectively; I rested my head on his shoulders. Temari sat in an armchair near the couch and the old woman sat in an armchair across from the couch.

"I assume that you are here about the Akatsuki taking the Kazekage, right?" the old woman asked.

"Yes, we are," Kakashi stated.

"Then we better get moving. We don't know when the Akatsuki is beginning his extraction," the old woman stated as she stood up, "By the way, I'm Chiyo."

"I'm Hatake Kakashi," my boyfriend stated as he helped me stand.

"Zamina Pegasus," I stated.

"I'm the Kazekage's sister, Temari," the girl with blonde hair stated as she stood. We all walked out the door and began running towards the Akatsuki Hideout.

"Chiyo! How do you know where the hideout is?" Kakashi inquired.

"My grandson is a part of the Akatsuki," Chiyo replied.

"So let's get moving!" I cried, making the group move a tiny bit faster than we were going at the time.  
*~*~* _Outside the Akatsuki Hideout, Sakura's PoV_  
"Back up," Flame stated as we slowly backed away. She performed a single hand sign with one hand and all of the exploding tags activated instantly. The large rock that was blocking our way in had gotten destroyed.

"Let's go!" the Tokubetsu Jounin cried. We ran into the hideout, following Flame as she was the team leader. The area around the explosion was still full of smoke, so we got in without being seen.

"Attack them!" a familiar voice yelled. Multiple shinobi charged towards us.

"Defend yourselves!" Flame yelled as she held off a few shinobi, "Sasuke, Sakura, go find the extraction room and retrieve Gaara!"

"Hai!" Sasuke and I chorused before running off.

Flare: *sigh* I'm done.  
Flame: With writing this story or fanfiction all together?  
Flare: With this chapter.  
Flame: That wasn't an option.  
Flare: Go buy some sticky notes.  
Flame: FINE! *leaves*  
Flare: Peace and quiet... 


	10. Chapter 10

Flare: Yippie! New chapter!  
Kakashi: *walks in with Zamina* Still insane?  
Sasuke: Uh-huh...  
Flame: *appears in front of Kakashi and points a threatening finger at him* WHERE WERE YOU WITH MY SISTER!  
Kakashi: None of your business.  
Zamina: Aren't you supposed to be out buying sticky notes?  
Flame: I already did. _

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 10 - Gaara Dies pt. 2! [Flame/Kakashi/Sasori/Itachi]

The smoke began to slowly clear away, revealing a familiar face to Naruto and me. I quickly noticed who this person was and activated my Sharingan.

"Kankuro! Naruto! Close your eyes!" I cried as I pulled out a kunai. The two shinobi closed their eyes upon my command.

"Go get her friends. We'll need to hold them captive," the shinobi coldly stated.

"Kankuro, Naruto, get out of here now. Itachi will kill you! Neither one of you are ready to face him, so go!" I yelled in a commanding voice. Sadly, Uzumaki and Kankuro didn't want to cooperate... Typical.

"But if we leave, you'll die!" Naruto cried.

"I'd rather be dead before I let my friends die. It's just like Kakashi-sensei said before! I will not let my comrades die. Right? Well the same thing's going for me! So go!" I replied, grinning.

"Okay," the two ninja replied, leaving the hideout. Naruto stopped though because I only heard one person's footsteps.

"Don't die on me, Flame! I still want to fight you! Believe it!" Naruto replied, grinning.

_'Don't worry, Naruto. You'll still be able to fight me. As soon as Tsunade-Hokage-sama finishes healing my wounds, that is...'_

"So, ignoring the runts, shall we begin?" Itachi asked, getting into a fighting stance.

"You're not using Amateratsu or Tsukuyomi on me?" I replied, also getting into a fighting stance.

"Of course not. I'd rather see what your skills are like up close," Itachi replied, "So let's go Jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails."

"Same here, Itachi of the Uchiha." I ran at Itachi, making the biggest mistake I could ever make. Running at Itachi, hoping to live? Hah! Yeah, I'm dead right now. Itachi caught the kunai with two fingers, as expected. Tee hee, he fell right into my trap!

"You're going down! Believe it!" I muttered as I threw a punch at Itachi's stomach, causing him to fly backwards into a wall. I then ran towards Itachi, but froze as I collapsed to my knees.

"G-g-genjutsu..." I weakly stated as Itachi grabbed my hair, "It's Tsukuyomi, isn't it?"

"Oh, you're smart, aren't you?" Itachi coldly stated, "Besides, shouldn't you be in Konoha receiving special training?"

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" I cried as I stabbed my hand to release the Genjutsu placed on me. A large yellow tiger with black stripes appeared behind Itachi and lunged at him. Itachi quickly jumped up and landed in front of me.

"Summoning? This early? You're not that bright of a Jinchuuriki, are you? It's a mystery about how you made Tokubetsu Jounin," Itachi muttered.

"Tora!" I cried as I performed multiple hand signs, "Try and pin him down so I can kick his ass!"

Tora lunged at Itachi again; there was one problem though. A large cloud of smoke enveloped the area as Tora lunged at Itachi. I blinked, making the Sharingan disappear.

_'Just what the hell is going on here? Kakashi-sensei's group couldn't have gotten here this fast!'_ I thought as the smoke started to clear. I pulled out four kunai and four shuriken, just incase I had to pull off an attack.

"You really want to attack your own boyfriend?" a familiar voice asked me as the smoke finally cleared. The person had Itachi pinned to the ground and Tora had disappeared upon the person's arrival.

"S-Sasuke?"  
*~*~* _Somewhere in the desert, Kakashi's PoV_  
"We're lost," Zamina stated, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"We're not lost," I repeated for the fiftieth time.

"It doesn't matter if we're lost or not! We're not anywhere near Kawa no Kuni, so let's just keep moving," Temari angrily stated. At this point, everyone was angered because we were nowhere near the Akatsuki Hideout, and we were all pretty sure that the other team needed help. We continued moving, even though most of the team felt like we weren't getting anywhere.

_'This isn't going to end well... I just hope that the other team isn't dead yet...'_  
*~*~* _In the extraction room, Sasori's PoV_  
A body fell to the ground as the extraction was completed. The Akatsuki now had another Bijuu added to their collection of Bijuu. The leader dismissed us and I quickly left. I was headed for the desert because I knew that the Kazekage's brother and sister were probably on their way right now... As I reached the exit, I found a kid who looked similar to Itachi. I also found the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki with him along with some girl with pink hair.

"Itachi! What's going on?"

"Sasori, go hold the other group back! I know that these brats are going to need some help from that other group! And if they can't get here, then these brats are as good as dead! Now go!" Itachi yelled as he kicked Sasuke off of him.

"Okay," I muttered before running out of the cave. I ran towards the border of Kawa no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. I noticed a familiar face as I got close to the border.

"Finally! We're in Kawa no Kuni!" a not so familiar voice cried.

"Be quiet! Someone might hear us!" the familiar voice whispered.

_'It's you...'_ I jumped down from the tree, throwing multiple kunai at the group. They ducked, making all of the kunai hit a tree.

"Sasori," the man with his hitai-ate over his left eye muttered.

"Kakashi. Take your girlfriend to the cave," the old woman muttered.

"But what about you, Chiyo," the man replied. So I was right! It was Chiyo! I knew it!

"Temari and myself will take Sasori on," Chiyo replied. The man nodded and the three mentioned earlier ran towards the extraction cave.

"Okay, Temari. Let's go wild," Chiyo muttered. Temari nodded, opening her fan just a tiny bit.  
*~*~* _At the cave, Itachi's PoV_  
I grabbed Sasuke's leg and threw him into a nearby wall. Then, I pulled out a kunai and ran for the Ten Tails.

"Sasuke!" the Ten Tails cried.

"I'd pay attention if I were you!" I yelled as I stabbed the girl in her arm. She grabbed my other arm and nodded. Someone had stabbed me from behind.

"Good job... Sakura," the girl muttered. My brother kicked me, leaving the girl and myself wounded.

"We might have to retreat. Kakashi and his group should've been here by now," the Ten Tails muttered to her teammates as she pressed down on the stab wound.

"Do you want us to go find him?" my brother asked.

"No. Itachi sent another Akatsuki member after him. If we're lucky, they'll be here soon. Sakura. Go to the extraction room and get Gaara."

"Hai," the pink-haired girl replied before running off.

"Sasuke. Let's go wild."

Flare: Huzzah! We're done! :D  
Kakashi: Yay...  
Flare: You'll live, Kakashi.  
Kakashi: I doubt it.  
Flare: *grabs the long metal pole* Do you want to be chased with a metal pole too?  
Kakashi: No, I'm good. 


	11. Chapter 11

Flare: ZOMG! WE IS FINALLY UPDATING.  
Kakashi: *sarcasm* Like, I know right!  
Flare: Kakashi?  
Kakashi: Yes?  
Flare: Do not speak to me during this chapter, please.  
Kakashi: Whatever.  
Flame: Anyways, yayness! The mission—  
Flare: Starting the chapter now!

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 11 ~ Two Birds Killed With One Kunai! The Mission is Complete! [Sasuke/Sakura/Temari/Flame]

Flame lunged at Itachi; I used my Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu. My brother, however, disappeared completely, making both of our attacks miss. Flame ran directly into the wall while I stood in awe. Itachi had disappeared completely; he wouldn't have done something like that. I know he wouldn't do that.

"Don't worry, my dear little brother. When you get stronger, I'll attack you when you least expect it," Itachi's voice said. I looked around frantically; Itachi was nowhere in sight. I sighed; I was defiantly going to kill Itachi, even if I died trying. My eyes moved over to Flame's body. She was laying on the ground unconscious. It was probably because she hit her head on the wall when Itachi disappeared. I walked over to her and picked her up. Sighing, I knew that this was going to be a long journey back to Konoha...  
*~*~* _Somewhere in the extraction room, Sakura's PoV_  
I couldn't see anything in the extraction room. It was so freakin' dark. I looked around for some source of light. If only I could use my chakra as a light source, I could find Gaara much faster. As I searched and searched, the lights suddenly came on. Someone who looked a lot like Sasuke appeared near Gaara's body. I ignored the person and ran over to Gaara's body, only to be kicked away by the person standing by him.

"Foolish girl. You'll never get to this former Jinchuuriki."

Multiple kunai soared over my head at the other person in the room. I turned around to see none other than Kakashi and his girlfriend, Zamina.

"Well, well... If it isn't Hatake Kakashi..."

"Hn... Itachi," Kakashi muttered in a low voice. I saw Sasuke running towards us carrying Flame in his arms. He ran in front of all of us, carelessly dropping Flame as he ran.

"ITACHI. I WILL KILL YOU!" Sasuke cried. I looked up at Sasuke, then back over at Kakashi. Sasuke ran towards Itachi, being foolish.

"Sasuke! Stop! You'll just get killed!" I cried as I scrambled to my feet to stop him. I was quickly pulled back by Kakashi and Flame, who had managed to trip me as I started running for Sasuke. Sasuke, on the other hand, was stopped by Flame who had managed to throw a shruiken at him when he got close to his brother.

"Sasuke... Don't be an idiot," Flame stated as she rose to her feet, not taking any notice to everyone else in the room, "We both know that you can't kill Itachi on your own..."

I saw Sasuke turn around, but he was quickly kicked by Itachi, knocking him down to his knees. This was defiantly going to be a long fight.

"Stay out of this!" Sasuke yelled, "You'll just get in the way!"

"No, Sasuke! I won't stay out of this!"  
*~*~* _At the border of Kawa no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, Temari's PoV_  
I sighed. Now we had to fight this Akatsuki member to get to the hideout to get to my brother. Joy.

"Cutting Whirlwind!" I cried as I opened my fan up and performed the attack. Chiyo, on the other hand, took out a few kunai and sighed. She then threw the kunai. Sasori managed to dodge the kunai, but fell right into my Cutting Whirlwind. When the whirlwind finally stopped, Sasori's Akatsuki cloak was all cut up and he had a few cuts on his face. Sasori proceeded to attack us with one of his puppets.

"Red Secret Technique — Performance of the Hundred Puppets!" Sasori cried as hundreds of puppets were summoned from a summoning scroll.

"Hn... Temari! You attack him from the side while I attack him with my puppets!" Chiyo stated. I nodded and quickly ran towards Sasori's right side. If I could attack him from there, his puppets wouldn't be able to attack if I cut the strings holding them.

"Great Cutting Whirlwind!" I yelled, swinging my fan to send a gust of wind towards Sasori. He managed to dodge some of the attack, but the force of the wind sent him flying into a tree. Chiyo took advantage of my attack to attack Sasori as well, but her attack was blocked by a few of the puppets. I sighed; this was going to be a long battle. A very long battle. I wondered how the others were doing. Wherever the others were.  
*~*~*_Back in the extraction room, Flame's PoV_  
Sasuke was being an idiot. A complete idiot. He was going to attack and defeat Itachi alone without any help. No help at all! Well, I know one thing. If his little Uchiha ass needs help, I'm not going to be the one to help him! He can get someone else to help him! The battle had already started and Sasuke was already exhausted. I let out a deep sigh. Sasuke was definatly going to get himself killed unless he got stronger...

"Come on, little brother," Itachi stated, kicking Sasuke in the ribs, "Don't tell me you're already tired. We've just started."

I growled quietly; I just wanted to jump in so badly and pummel Itachi until he died. That's exactly what I wanted to do. But if I did, Sasuke would kill me for interfering. Sasuke, however, kicked Itachi in the stomach, sending Itachi flying into a nearby wall.

"Never... do that again," Sasuke snarled. Sasuke began beating his brother into a bloody pulp after that. A few minutes after, a shark-like person appeared and threw Sasuke towards Kakashi-sensei, who caught Sasuke. The shark-like person quickly disappeared with Itachi, who appeared to be dying.

Sakura and myself, however, ignored the injured Sasuke. Gaara was more important since he was the whole reason as to why we were here. I gently picked up Gaara's left hand and checked his pulse. There was no pulse. We were too late. Sakura was looking at me with a worried expression on her face.

"Sakura, carry him back to Sunagakure," I whispered. Sakura nodded and gently picked up Gaara. The two of us walked past Kakashi-sensei and my sister. Kakashi-sensei, carrying Sasuke, and my sister followed the two of us out of the cave.

As we walked out of the cave, I felt a strong wind pass by us. Either we had some strong winds coming our way or we were near a fight. I decided to go with the second option since we were in what seemed like a war zone. Sighing, I began tree hopping towards Kaze no Kuni, hoping that I could find the source of these strong winds.  
*~*~*_At the border of Kaze no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni, Temari's PoV_  
I slammed into a tree due to an attack from one of Sasori's puppets. Chiyo was exhausted from throwing projectiles at Sasori, so she was only able to be a distraction for my attacks. Another puppet, one that looked a lot like Karasu, attacked Sasori from his left side. I looked over towards my left to see none other than my brother, Kankuro. I smiled and let out a deep sigh. Maybe now we would have a chance of beating these guys.

Only seconds after Kankuro appeared, kunai flew towards Sasori from my right side. Wondering who showed up this time, I looked over to my right to see none other than Flame and everyone else. We were defiantly going to win now.

"Well, well, looks like we showed up at the perfect time!" Flame happily cried as Sasori hit the ground. I ran over to him, followed by Flame. Flame checked his pulse and grinned happily as she rose.

"Well, then. Our mission here is complete. Sasori is dead," Flame stated, grinning.  
*~*~*_A few hours later, Sakura's PoV_  
"So what about Gaara?" I asked, wondering what we were going to do with his corpse.

"I can revive him at the cost of my own life. The only thing is that he won't have Shukaku in him anymore," Chiyo stated as she placed both of her hands on Gaara's chest.

"Wait! You have to die—" Flame started.

"Yes, I do," Chiyo stated as she performed the technique on Gaara. It didn't take long for Gaara to come back to life and for Chiyo to die. Smiling slightly, I looked over at Gaara, who was sitting up with the help of Flame and Temari.  
*~*~*_At the graveyard in Sunagakure, Flame's PoV_  
"It's sad, isn't it?" I asked, looking over at Gaara. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, it is. Especially since she risked her own life for mine," Gaara replied.

"Well, at least you're alive again. So now Sunagakure won't have to worry about being Kageless for too long."

"You're right!" Gaara laughed, smiling. He hugged me one last time before walking off to continue his duties as Kazekage of Sunagakure. I smiled as I watched him walk away. This mission was completed. Now we could all head back to Konohagakure no Sato and relax before our next mission.

Flare: And that's it!  
Flame: Finally.  
Flare: Shush.  
Sasuke: What's the next mission?  
Kakashi: I don't think she's going to tell you, Sasuke.  
Sasuke: Oh yeah... I forgot about her "You wait to find out" policy.  
Flare: Well, you better start remembering! Just like our nice and lovely readers who pwn so much should review as well. =)


	12. Chapter 12

Flare: We back. We finally back.  
Flame and Zamina: Boo. Epic boo.  
Flare: Boo? There's no Boo here. This isn't a Mario game, y'know.  
Flame: It's a— Oh screw it. You don't care.  
Flare: Good job. I don't care. =3

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 12 - A New Team Kakashi! Sai Is Finally Here! [Flame/Kakashi/Tsunade]

I walked down the crowded streets of Konohagakure. That mission in Sunagakure was finally done and Tsunade called me for some things that I had no clue about. She did let me go on the mission to Kaze no Kuni, so it couldn't be for that. I was still slightly poisoned, even though it didn't stop me much on the mission.

As I walked into Tsunade's office, adjusting my headband as I walked in, I sighed. What could Tsunade possibly want with me?

"Hai Lady Hokage. I'm here," I stated, sitting down in one of the chairs. Tsunade rose and stepped around her desk.

"Good. There's something I'm asking you to do for me. Kakashi and Zamina need to be separated for now," Tsunade stated, pacing back and forth.

"Yeah! I'll so do this mission!" I happily yelled, jumping up and racing to the door.

"Wait! Sit back down!" Tsunade stated in a stern voice. I returned to my seat as Tsunade picked up something on her desk.

"You'll have to start with your sister. It'll be harder to get her away from Kakashi," Tsunade stated, setting down the item she picked up and walking towards the window, "Team Kakashi will also be going on a mission to the Grass Country to find a spy that worked for Sasori. However, before you leave... Team Kakashi will no longer be a five man team. It will be a six man team."

"Isn't Team Kakashi a six man team anyway?" I asked. There was Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, my sister, and myself. Last time I had checked, that was six people.

"No! Your sister isn't a part of the team! She's only a.." Tsunade stated, sounding slightly annoyed, "Helper, if that's the correct word."

"Oh. So.. When do we go on this mission?" I inquired.

"Soon. You may go now," Tsunade stated, "Also, get your sister. I would like to have a little chat with her.  
*~*~* _Kakashi's PoV, in Tsunade's office_  
I sighed; we were going on another mission and we hadn't even been back from Kaze no Kuni for a full week yet. Tsunade rose as Flame happily sat in her seat. The Hokage turned, scowled, then sighed.

"Okay, Team Kakashi. Two things will be happening today. First of all, you will become a six man team instead of a five man team. Your ne—" I interrupted Tsunade, which she would kill me for, but I didn't really care.

"Excuse me, Tsunade, but Zamina is also a part of our team. That would make us a six man team," I replied, correcting Tsunade.

"No, Kakashi-sensei. That's not true. Lady Hokage says that big sister isn't a part of the team. She's only a helper," Flame happily stated.

"Thank you, Flame... Your new team member will be Sai," Tsunade finished as the new team member walked in. My new student looked over Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Flame as he walked closer to the group. Sai walked towards Flame, which angered Sasuke a whole lot.

_'I can tell this isn't going to end well... This is going to kill me,'_ I thought.

"Why, hello my young lady. You seem beautiful tonight," Sai stated, smiling.

"Get away from her!" Sasuke yelled, lunging at Sai. I grabbed Sasuke, stopping him from attacking his new teammate.

"Sasuke, calm down. You are not allowed to fight your own teammates," I stated, looking slightly annoyed. Sasuke sighed and stepped away from Tsunade's desk. Sai, on the other hand, jumped back away from Flame, who had flinched when Sasuke yelled.

"Well, now that you all seem to know each other, it's time for you to learn of the second thing I called you here for. All six of you are going on a mission to find Sasori's spy. Why? Because we need some information about him, Sasori, and the Akatsuki. You are to leave tomorrow. Do you understand?" Tsunade stated.

"Hai, Lady Hokage!" Team Kakashi chorused.

"Good. Now get out of my sight," Tsunade stated, sounding slightly annoyed.  
*~*~* _The next day, Tsunade's PoV_  
"Zamina! Get over here now!"

"Hai, Lady Hokage!" The blonde girl replied, rushing over to me. The kiddo was standing beside me, as I had called her here to give her a little more information on the mission before she left. Yes, that meant she would be late, but not as late as Kakashi.

"Have you seen Kakashi today?" I inquired, wanting to know.

"H-hai Lady Hokage. He came to say that they were leaving at noon. He's coming back in fifteen minutes," Zamina replied.

"The hell he is. Get back to work!"

"Hai!" Zamina replied one last time before running off. I turned to the kiddo, handing her a piece of paper. She took it and looked it over.

"Is this more information on the mission?" she asked.

"Of course it is. Don't tell Kakashi or any of your other teammates. The less they know, the better," I stated, turning towards my office, "You better go now. I'm pretty sure the rest of your team is waiting for you."

"Okay! Bye Lady Hokage!" Flame stated, running off.

Flare: Whewt! Done!  
Naruto: Yay! Another mission!  
Flame: Of course there's gonna be another mission! There's always missions!  
Kakashi: You do have a point, Flame.  
Flame: Of course I do.  
Flare: Please read and review, readers. I'd greatly appreciate it.


	13. Chapter 13

Flame: Great. Sai's stalking me.  
Sasuke: SAI'S DOING WHAT?  
Flare: Stalking her, Sasuke. Why don't you go kill him?  
Sasuke: Maybe I will! *goes off in search of Sai*  
Sai: *poofs beside Flare* He's an idiot, isn't he?  
Flare: Suppose so. =/  
Flame: Sasuke-kun is no idiot!  
Flare: You two carry on. I have a chapter to start. *sits down at her computer*

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born  
Chapter 13 - A Trip to the Grass! [Flame]

I was the first to step out of the village, running into Kotetsu as I did. Him and Kaimaru had an evil look on their face as I looked up at them. Kaimaru held his hand out, grinning happily.

"Have your permit with you, Flame?" Kotetsu asked as Kaimaru helped me up.

"Of course I do! It's right here!" I happily exclaimed as I rummaged through my bag for the permit. I couldn't find it at all. A complete look of fear, surprise, and annoyance all became my expression at once. _'For the love of ramen, please let my permit be with me. I'll NEVER get back into the village at this rate!'_

Noticing a little glimmer and a picture of myself, I snatched the item out of my bag. It was my permit! Oh thank ramen for that little bit of hope and luck. My expression quickly changed to excitement as I closed my bag, jumped up, and waved the permit in both Kotetsu and Kaimaru's faces. Shoving the permit in my bag, I happily skipped along as the other members of my team flashed their passes.

Nightfall came quickly as myself and my teammates set up camp. I sat under a tree with Sakura, watching our teammates set up camp. Grinning happily, Sakura threw acorns at Sasuke, Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi. Since it looked like fun, I did the same. I mainly aimed for Kakashi. Why? Well, he was my sister's gay ass boyfriend, so it would make sense... wouldn't it? Anyways, one acorn hit Kakashi's hitai-ate, thus making him horribly angry.

"Well, Flame... since you enjoy throwing things, YOU can join Naruto and Sai on their expedition to get firewood," Kakashi annoyingly stated. I grinned happily and jumped up. I could FINALLY get away from the STUPID campsite Kakashi had picked.

"Naruto, Sai, come on!" I happily yelled as I skipped off. Both Naruto and Sai simultaneously sighed and followed me, looking at each other weirdly. I bent down and picked up a log, nonchalantly tossing it back to Naruto and Sai. Naruto caught it, sticking his tongue out at Sai. I kept picking up logs randomly, tossing them back to Naruto and Sai, who stuck their tongue out at the other when one of them caught a log. It was quite annoying, so I decided to piss them off.

"Okay, you lackeys! I think we have enough logs! We'll take a detour back to camp to get back faster," I stated, giving an evil grin to the two boys. We had to have been walking in the forest for hours before we finally reached the camp. Naruto and Sai were exhausted and passed out upon their return with logs scrambled upon them. Giving off my evil grin again, I performed hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu. As I was about to release the fire, Kakashi shoved me back, so he then had a face covered in ash. Well, what you could see of his face anyway. His visible eye appeared to show annoyance, so I happily grinned, chuckling as well.

"When we get back to Konoha, you are SO dead," Kakashi mumbled, shoving me away. I just clambered into my tent with Sakura, grinning happily. I explained the recent situation to Sakura, whom fell asleep immediately after I finished my story. Rummaging through my bag once more, I found the sheet of paper about the mission in my bag. Skimming it over, I noticed something quite unusual. I had seen footprints that had looked similar to Orichimaru's. I scowled slightly; if Orochimaru were to be found, all hell would break loose. At the bottom, in small letters, was a note. It didn't even look like Tsunade's handwriting. I knew for a fact that it wasn't my dear sister's handwriting. Looking at it closer, I whipped out a piece of paper written by Shizune. Comparing the paper written by Shizune and the mission document, I noticed that the note written at the bottom was by Shizune. She had mentioned that Orochimaru could be seen and to be careful. It was a good notice and I would have to thank Shizune when I returned to the village.

Shoving the documents back into my bag, I closed my bag and fell into a deep slumber. The following morning, I opened my eyes and saw the sky. But it looked different than usual. It was sunny, like it was supposed to be during this time of the year. No rain clouds or anything like that. I looked down at Kakashi, whom was looking up at me.

"Kakashi-sensei, you are one son of a bitch," I stated, scowling slightly. Going to pull a kunai out of my pack, I felt nothing. Looking down, I noticed a pile of kunai and shuriken along with my other items in my kunai pouch. Sighing, I began untying the rope binding my feet. I finished and grabbed onto the tree branch. Letting go of the branch, I fell to the ground and landed, picking up my kunai, shruiken, and various other items that had fallen out.

"Let's just go. We don't have all day, you know," I stated, walking away. The rest of the team followed, leaving Kakashi behind. Kakashi snapped out of his trance, I suppose, since I heard him catching up.

"We should be getting close," Sai stated, pointing to kunai marks left in a nearby tree. I nodded and made my own kunai marks in the same tree. Pointing to Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto, I nodded to the left. The three shinobi I had pointed to hopped off in that direction. Sasuke and Sai followed me to the right of their meeting place.

Nightfall came so Sasuke and Sai set up camp while I sat under a tree. The two finished and we all sat by the campfire, chatting about various things.

"You know that blonde knucklehead we have to travel with?" Sai asked.

"Yeah. He's a childhood friend of mine," Sasuke replied, pulling me closer to him.

"Well, he acts like he has no penis. He needs to grow a penis," Sai nonchalantly stated.

"Trust me, he has more of a penis then you could ever imagine," I replied, winking slightly.

Naruto: I HAVE A PENIS, YOU BITCH.  
Sai: You don't act like it.  
Naruto: Well, you haven't seen me fight yet!  
Sai: You probably fight like a girl.  
Naruto: YOU LITTLE BASTARD.  
Flare: Naruto, if you don't calm down...  
Naruto: THIS GUY'S SAYING I DON'T HAVE A PENIS.  
Flare: *silences Naruto*  
Sakura: Yay! Thanks a lot, Flare-san!  
Flare: No problem! Readers and shadow readers, please read and review! I'd greatly appreciate it! :D


	14. Drawing Your Heart Out

_So this is the first real update of Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born. After over a year, we finally have the first ever real update of this fanfic! ;D This is the sequel to The Greatest Full-Fledged Shinobi, so if you have yet to read that disasterous fanfic by me, please go read it now. You don't have to review, just read. Now then, please enjoy the first real update of Return of the Fire Ninja- A Legend is Born!_

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born

Chapter 14 - Drawing Your Heart Out [Flame/Kakashi]

The following morning, we woke up to see storm clouds in the morning sky. I looked over at Kakashi, who was starting to pack his things. Everyone else seemed to be following Kakashi's lead as well.

"I assume we're traveling even though there's storm clouds in the sky?" I asked.

"A storm isn't going to stop us from completing our mission, Flame," Kakashi replied. I shrugged and began packing my things. Sasuke walked over to me and began helping me.

"Don't you have to finish packing your things?" I asked as I looked up at Sasuke. He had successfully distracted me from my packing. He was quite good at distracting me too; I hated that about him.

"I've already finished," Sasuke replied. He gestured to his bag, which was sitting beneath a tree. I sighed and shook my head as I resumed packing my things.

Once I had finished packing, we were finally ready to leave. I hadn't noticed that I was the last one to finish packing. I shrugged as Kakashi began leading the way to the Grass Country. The rest of us followed after him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Kakashi's Point of View_

Rain began falling from the sky, and it wasn't even the afternoon yet. I sighed as I led my group to a cave to escape the rain. My team sat down in the cave as I looked out into the forest.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura called. I turned around to see her, as well as the rest of the team, looking at me curiously. They had probably been calling my name for a few minutes, but I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to hear them. "I thought you said the storm wouldn't stop us from completing the mission."

"And why didn't you answer us sooner?" Flame chipped in. I sighed and shook my head; I had a feeling that Flame would be the one to ask us that.

"I didn't think the storm would be this bad," I replied, looking at Sakura. Sakura and the rest of the team, excluding Flame, nodded. Flame didn't look to pleased though... then again, I don't think she ever looked pleased. "I got lost in my own train of thought."

I saw Flame nod slowly before returning to her conversation she was having with the team. I turned back around, watching the storm. The rain, which was torrential just a few moments ago, was beginning to taper off. It was still pretty bad though, so I decided that we would be able to continue heading for the Grass Country in just a few minutes or so.

"Psst, Kakashi!" a familiar female voice hissed. I glanced back at the team, who didn't seem to hear the person hissing at Kakashi.

"I'm going for a walk. You guys stay here," I said. My team looked up at me, but they didn't seem to care as they went back to their conversation moments later. I sighed as I walked out of the cave.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Flame's Point of View_

I smiled as we looked through Sai's sketchbook. He was a pretty good artist. We were all flipping through his art since we had nothing better to do.

"Sai, this is brilliant," I stated. Sai looked up at me and smiled softly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sakura nodding in agreement.

"Thank you," Sai said softly.

"You're welcome, Sai," Sakura replied. I nodded, agreeing with Sakura's statement. We continued flipping through Sai's sketchbook, admiring his brilliant artwork.

"Why do you draw, Sai?" I asked. I was looking at Sai with a curious expression on my face, and I noticed that my teammates had the same expression on their faces as well. Sai closed his sketchbook as we had come to the end of the book.

"I've been using this to show my growth as a shinobi," Sai replied. His response was short and sweet, and I liked that. I nodded with a grin on my face.

"That's a good idea. Don't you dare give up on that sketchbook, Sai," I stated. Sai nodded, giving us a small smile. My smile faded away as I heard footsteps. I turned around to see Kakashi and my sister standing at the entrance of the cave. I also noticed that the rain was tapering off as well.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, looking directly at my sister. She shrugged, looking from Kakashi to me.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Kakashi's Point of View_

I looked from my girlfriend to my student and sighed. This was bound to start trouble; I don't even know why I brought my dearest Zamina back here with me. I knew it would cause trouble... at any rate, it was too late now. I had already brought her here.

"Tsunade already knows that I'm here. There's nothing for you to get mad at me about," Zamina said bluntly. Flame sighed and waved her hand at us dismissively, returning to her conversation with the rest of the team.

"We'll be leaving in a few minutes, you guys," I stated. None of the team bothered to respond to me at all. This was going to be one long mission.


	15. Chaotic Training

_So as I type this chapter, Hurricane Earl lingers in the Atlantic. It bothers me as to where it'll be going. I'm kinda hoping no one gets hurt or anything because of this. Personally, I haven't been in a hurricane since I was in elementary school; that was Hurricane Isabel. I'm going into my junior year of high school now. Whatever happens with Earl, I do hope that everyone stays safe. In the meantime, I do hope you enjoy this chapter of Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born._

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born

Chapter 15 - Chaotic Training [Zamina/Kakashi/Flame/Sakura]

I watched as the team began packing their things. Flame kept making casual, yet obvious glances at me as if she was bothered by my sudden arrival. I shook my head and turned around, looking outside and watching as the rain turned into drizzle. A pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, causing me to gasp quietly. I relaxed once I realized that it was only Kakashi.

"Did I scare you?" Kakashi whispered in my ear.

"A little, yes," I replied softly. Kakashi spun me around so that I was facing him; I could tell he was smiling beneath his mask, and just knowing that brought a smile to my face.

"It's so nice to see you again," Kakashi said softly.

"You're the only one who seems to think that, I'm afraid. _Some_ people aren't exactly thrilled to see me," I replied, glancing at Flame when her back was turned. Kakashi turned his head slightly and saw Flame, who's back was still turned because she was still packing, and sighed. He turned back around to face me.

"She'll have to get over it," Kakashi whispered. He brushed a few stray strands of my blonde hair, which was tied up in a messy bun, out of my face and tucked them behind my ear.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura called nervously. The team was looking at us... everyone except Flame, that is. She was looking down at the ground. I backed away from Kakashi just as he turned around, looking down at the ground to allow stray strands of my blonde hair to fall out of place again.

"Yes?" Kakashi replied.

"We're ready to go," Sakura replied shyly. Kakashi nodded as he turned away, walking towards the exit of the cave and tapping my shoulder on his way out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Kakashi's Point of View_

Something was going on. I wasn't sure what it was, but things seemed off. Zamina and Flame weren't talking, which wasn't such a big deal, but the way they were acting seemed odd. Not to mention I could feel this strange chakra... it was familiar, oh yes it was, but I couldn't figure out who it belonged to.

I pushed the thought to the back of my head. I couldn't let it linger in my mind right now. What was important right now was pairing the five members of my team for some training. Teamwork was important right now, especially with the addition of Sai to our team. I sighed as I stopped in the middle of a large clearing.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are we doing?" Naruto asked. He sounded extremely confused; that wasn't very surprising to me.

"We're going to be doing a little bit of training today. Just some sparring and teamwork improvement," I replied. I turned around to face the team. "We've got an uneven number though, so one of you will be going up against me."

I turned around to look at the team. Flame was developing a grin on her face; I knew she wanted to go against me. Just looking at them, I could tell how I wanted to do the pairings. Another sigh escaped me as I glanced at Zamina for a split second before looking back at the team.

"First up will be Naruto and Sai," I announced.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Flame's Point of View_

Naruto and Sai. That was certainly going to be an interesting match. It seemed like they had a little bit of rivalry going on there. Not to mention, none of us have ever seem Sai battle before. I had a really good feeling that this was going to be an interesting match.

"No killing each other; that's all I have to say. You can begin when you're ready," Kakashi stated. He stepped away from Naruto and Sai, moving to stand next to my sister, who was standing on the sidelines beneath a tree.

Naruto made the first move, as expected. He lunged at Sai, ready to punch him. Sai made no movement whatsoever. He simply stood there, watching Naruto as he came running towards him. Naruto collided with Sai, who just disappaited into a puddle of black ink.

"What the hell?" I cried out. Naruto looked frantic as well, as he was looking around for Sai. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sai jump down from the tree that Kakashi and my sister were standing under and lunge at Naruto. Sai hit Naruto and pinned him to the ground.

"You should've been paying more attention," Sai stated. I ran up to Sai and shoved him off of Naruto, shocking basically everyone around me, even Naruto.

"That's not fair! You've been up in that tree this whole time!" I yelled as Sai got back to his feet. He grabbed me and pinned me to a nearby tree.

"Well then, if you're looking for a fair fight, you won't get one. This is the real world, not some silly academy battle," Sai stated. I growled quietly and moved my gaze to Kakashi, who was walking up to us.

"Break it up, both of you. We'll call that as a draw. Next up will be Sasuke and Sakura," Kakashi stated casually. Sai released me, and I sighed. This meant I was up against Kakashi... oh, great.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Sakura's Point of View_

I was up against Sasuke. I was up against someone who would be able to easily defeat me. I was done. I glanced at Flame, who nodded at me with a smile.

"You'll be fine, Sakura," Flame stated. I nodded slowly as I stepped into the center of the clearing across from Sasuke. Sasuke nodded politely to me, and I nervously returned it.

"You both know the rules. You can begin when you're ready," Kakashi stated. Sasuke ran towards me, but I jumped back just as I put one of my gloves on. I figured that Sasuke wouldn't give me a chance to get ready, so I slammed my gloved hand, which was now curled up into a fist, into the ground, causing a small tremor to knock Sasuke off of his feet. I smiled softly as Sasuke slowly stood back up. Sasuke ran towards me again, but he stopped when he saw Sai jump in the middle.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked. He sounded very angry, which wasn't like him at all.

"Shut up," Sai said to Sasuke. He looked over at Kakashi-sensei and Zamina-chan next. "I saw Orochimaru and some other guy with him. They're by some bridge."

My eyes widened at the mentioning of Orochimaru and the unknown individual. I glanced around to see that everyone except Flame appeared shocked as well. It made me wonder why she wasn't shocked like everyone else.


	16. Kyuubi From Hell

_Junior year has been a royal bitch. I'm mainly blaming theatre. I have never, ever put in thirteen hour days in my life at school. That's okay though. After our fall show, which is ironically enough finished tomorrow with strike and the official cast and crew party on Saturday, I'm done with theatre. I think I'll go join the debate team instead. It sounds much more fun. Admittedly, however, I might do the fall show of my senior year. It depends on the show. ANYWAYS, I'm rambling and I'd like to bring you chapter sixteen of Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born._

Return of the Fire Ninja - A Legend is Born

Chapter 16 - The Kyuubi From Hell [Flame/Kakashi/Naruto]

Orochimaru and some other guy... who else would be with- Of course! Orochimaru and Kabuto. They were supposed to meet up with Sasori. It all made sense now. Well, all of it except for one thing... Sasori was dead. There was no way that could work out. Sasori was dead. Chiyo killed him. He wasn't going to be coming back. Were Orochimaru and Kabuto still thinking that Sasori was alive? No... they couldn't. Certainly they were smarter than that.

I shook my head. I couldn't believe what I was thinking. It was impossible. You couldn't bring somebody back to life without sacrificing something else in return. Just like what Chiyo did with Gaara after Shukaku was taken out of him by the Akatsuki.

"Flame," Kakashi called. I looked over at him only to notice that he looked annoyed. Not that I would have any idea why he would be like that.

"Yes, sensei?" I asked. There was an unintentional hint of sarcasm in my voice that Kakashi seemed to have ignored.

"You'll be going with Sasuke and Naruto to the bridge. The rest of us will surround the area and attack from there," Kakashi replied. I nodded, and then I gestured to Sasuke and Naruto to follow me, but Kakashi placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me. "Please be careful."

"Just because I wasn't paying attention to what you said the first time doesn't mean I won't be careful, Kakashi," I muttered, shrugging Kakashi's hand off of my shoulder. In a much louder tone, I spoke to Sasuke and Naruto, "Let's go, boys."

I began to walk away, and Sasuke and Naruto followed alongside me.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Kakashi's Point of View_

She never acted that way towards me before. Yes, Flame hated my guts. Most of that had to do with me dating her sister. Never had she acted so coldly to me before. It was strange, and it was starting to bother me. I shrugged it off; right now, there was a mission. That was more important.

"Kakashi!" Zamina called. I spun around only to see several Sound ninja, some of which were holding my teammates back. I hadn't even seen them arrive. This couldn't be happening, not now.

"Well, well, if it isn't the great Kakashi," one of the Sound ninja stated. I closed my only visible eye. This wasn't happening. This was all just an illusion right now. "I suggest you tell us where your other three teammates went or we'll just kill each one of these guys until you tell us. We'll start with the blonde one."

"You leave her out of this! The same goes for the rest of them!" I yelled, balling up my fists. If there was anything that I wasn't going to let happen, it was going to be letting my teammates get hurt. I wouldn't dare let that happen.

"Then tell us where they went!" the ninja yelled. I reopened my eye and took a deep breath. I couldn't tell them where Flame, Sasuke, and Naruto were headed. Flame would kill me. I would be betraying my team. A sigh escaped me... I would have to do it.

_'I'm sorry, Flame... I'm so sorry, but I have to do this or Zamina will die... I'm so sorry, I hope you forgive me one day.'_

"They're going to meet up with Orochimaru and the other person that he's with," Kakashi said. Just as Kakashi finished, the Sound ninja released his teammates and ran past Kakashi. Zamina ran up to Kakashi and threw her arms around his neck; Kakashi slowly wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, burying his face into her shoulder.

"I was so scared that I was going to lose you," Kakashi whispered. Zamina broke away from Kakashi and lifted his chin up.

"We have to go help Flame-chan, Sasuke, and Naruto. There's too many of those Sound shinobi for them to take on by themselves. Send Sakura and Sai to Orochimaru," Zamina breathed. "We can meet them there."

I stared into Zamina's blue eyes for a moment. Her eyes reflected determination; I could see it. I forced a smile beneath my mask, which I knew Zamina noticed because she returned it.

"Sakura, Sai, you two will go to the bridge and distract Orochimaru until we arrive. Be careful," I stated. Sakura stared at me blankly; she also appeared nervous. There must have been something I didn't know, but I couldn't think about that right now. Sai took her arm and began running off, dragging Sakura along with him. I watched them until Zamina knocked me back into reality.

"We have to go help the others," she breathed. There was a hint of urgency in her voice, and I knew we had to go. I ran in the direction that Flame, Sasuke, and Naruto had gone in, and Zamina followed alongside me, taking my hand and holding onto it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Flame's Point of View_

We were surrounded. We had been ambushed. None of that was in what Shizune had given me. An ambush was not supposed to happen. And it was happening.

"How did you find out where we were going?" I asked.

"Why your dear Kakashi told us. What a shame too, we didn't think he would give in so easily. Perhaps it was that precious, attractive blonde woman that we threatened to kill that did it," one of the Sound ninja stated. My eyes widened; they were referring to my sister. They were going to kill my sister. Kakashi gave us away to protect her. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Sasuke and Naruto lunged towards two of the Sound ninja as I stared at the one who had spoken to me in shock.

"Hey, get off of me!" two of the Sound ninja yelled. I looked over at the two who had yelled to see Kakashi and Zamina holding them back. If my eyes could've widened even more, they would have done so. This was quite shocking.

"Naruto, remember our mission. Go to the bridge," I breathed. I saw him glance over at me as if I was crazy. I certainly felt crazy. "Don't look at me like that, just go!"

Naruto, after a few minutes of what appeared to be mental contemplation, nodded. He released the Sound ninja he had pinned down and ran off. The Sound ninja that he had pinned eventually followed after him. The Sound ninja that was just talking to me had lunged forward to attack me, but I hadn't even noticed until he was just inches away from me. I screamed and fell backwards, but Kakashi had grabbed the ninja.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her or you'll regret you ever did," Kakashi snarled. He was protecting me. It was rather... scary. I never thought that Kakashi would protect _me_ of all people. Kakashi threw the Sound ninja aside, watching as he hit a tree and was knocked unconscious like the rest of his teammates. "Sasuke, you go help Naruto and the others. We'll catch up."

Sasuke nodded and left, giving me a small smile as he ran off. Kakashi knelt down next to me, and my sister joined him moments later. He brushed my red hair out of my face, and I could just tell he was smiling.

"I thought I told you to be careful," Kakashi said. I shook my head; he wasn't mad. If this day got any weirder, I would have to go check into a mental asylum.

"Wh-why?" I breathed. Kakashi lifted my chin up slowly. My eyes were filling with tears; I couldn't even tell if I was happy or sad.

"I wasn't planning on letting you get hurt," Kakashi whispered. "Besides, you're like a little sister to me."

The tears started falling; I couldn't hold them back any longer. I couldn't believe that he had said that. I jumped into Kakashi's arms, clinging to him tightly as he fell backwards. He wrapped his arms around me and chuckled.

"Zamina, if you could go help the others so that they don't get hurt or killed, it would be appreciated. Flame-chan and I will catch up," Kakashi said.

"Yeah, I'll see you two late- What?" Zamina breathed. I slowly looked up and gasped; four red tails. All four of them similar to the Kyuubi tails. Naruto.

"Naruto," I breathed. I broke away from Kakashi and ran towards the bridge. I could hear Kakashi and Zamina behind me. All we could hope for now was that we could stop Naruto before things got too bad.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Naruto's Point of View_

I had enough of them. They were making us furious. Not to mention Sasuke was hurt. Sai had disappeared. Four tails. This was going to be over. Orochimaru was done for.

"This is over, Orochimaru. You'll never hurt one of my friends again!" I growled.


	17. Secret Tears

_So my mom just gave me this thing in the mail about coupons, & she wants me to fill it out. Considering I have nothing better to do between typing up chapter seventeen of this fanfic and browsing the web, I'm gonna do it. It's nice to be able to save money~ So anyways, here we go with chapter seventeen!_

Return of the Fire Ninja – A Legend is Born

Chapter 17 – Secret Tears [Flame/Sakura/Kakashi]

"Naruto!" I screamed as I ran towards him. A pair of strong arms grabbed me around my waist and pulled me back. I struggled to get free, but it was no use. The person had a strong hold on me.

"Don't go near him. He could hurt you. He's not himself," a familiar voice whispered softly in my ear. It was Sasuke who was holding me back. I shook my head as a few stray tears fell from my eyes. I wasn't going to let Naruto get hurt. It wasn't going to happen.

"What if something happens to him? We can't lose him," Flame breathed, a slight whimper in her voice. Sasuke placed his hands on her shoulders and began rubbing her arms gently.

"At least wait for Kakashi to get here," Sasuke said. I shook my head again. "Hey, hey, what's gotten into you?"

I turned slightly and looked up at Sasuke. My face had confused written all over it. I didn't even know what to say. After having Kakashi tell me that I was like a little sister to him, it had thrown me into a state of shock, and that was the last state I needed to be in right now.

"Flame! Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled. I only knew it was him because I saw his spiky silver hair over Sasuke's shoulder. "Where's Sakura?"

I looked around until I saw a girl with bubblegum pink hair standing on the opposite side of us with Sai. She looked confused, and Sai didn't appear to be helping the situation. Kabuto was also with them as Naruto was taking on Orochimaru in his four tailed state. I broke free from Sasuke and ran across the battlefield, attacking Kabuto from behind.

"What the hell?" Kabuto cried as he hit the ground. Sakura grabbed me and pulled me off of him with Sai's help, and Kabuto sat up and glared at me.

"What do you think you-" Flame began, but she was cut off when she, Sakura, Sai, and Kabuto were separated by Naruto's roar of chakra. She screamed in shock, and out of the corner of her eye as she was sitting up, she saw Kakashi glance over at her.

_Sakura's Point of View_

We were recovering from Naruto's chakra roar rather quickly. It had knocked us away from Kabuto though, and had Sai not grabbed Flame when he did, she probably would've lunged at Kabuto again.

"I know you didn't finish your question, Flame-chan, but I know what you were going to say had we not been interrupted by your friend over there. I'm here because I'm waiting for Sasori," Kabuto said calmly, brushing himself off. I looked confused. I thought we had killed Sasori.

"Sasori?" Sai asked. I was going to answer, but Flame had started talking before I could even speak.

"Sasori's dead. We killed him," Flame said rather bluntly. Kabuto appeared shocked at this revelation.

"What do you mean dead?" Kabuto asked slowly. Flame shook her head, but I took this opportunity to respond.

"I don't think she can get any clearer than that," Sakura said. I noticed that Kabuto was about to formulate a reply, but he couldn't get anything out before they all turned their heads to the explosion in the center of the battlefield. A large cloud of smoke appeared, enveloping the surrounding area. "Wh-what's going on?"

As the smoke began clearing, I noticed that the bridge had collapsed because Naruto had been thrown into it. I looked over at Kakashi-sensei, Zamina-sensei, and Sasuke only to see someone running up behind them.

"Kakashi-sensei! Look out!" I yelled.

_Kakashi's Point of View_

When Sakura had yelled at us to look out, I spun around to see a familiar man running towards us. Naruto was beginning to lunge towards Orochimaru again, but he was stopped by a wooden barrier.

"It can't be," I breathed as the man used a jutsu to change Naruto back into his normal form. I saw Orochimaru and Kabuto escape, but I didn't bother with it. I was too shocked. Was this man really who I thought he was? I saw Sakura run up to Naruto and start to try and heal him.

"You can do a lot for him and your team," the man said as he ran off in the direction that Orochimaru and Kabuto had run off in. I ran up to them, joining Flame and Sakura, and I knew that Zamina and Sasuke were behind me.

"Is he going to be alright, Kakashi-sensei?" Flame asked, looking up at me. There were tears in her eyes, and I could only smile softly beneath my mask.

"He'll be fine, Flame-chan. Just give him a chance to recover," I said softly.

"Hey, where's Sai?" Sasuke asked. I looked around and noticed that Sai had disappeared. I saw a small black book on the ground, and I stood up and walked over to it. I bent down and picked it up before standing back up and facing my team.

"I have no idea where Sai's gone, but he left this behind," I said, holding up the small black book. Sakura, who had stopped healing Naruto, looked over at me, her eyes fixated on the small black book in my hand. "Sakura?"

"That's Sai's sketchbook," she said softly. I sighed as I walked back over to my group.

"We'll go find him," I said. "Zamina, you and Sakura stay back to watch over Naruto until he recovers. Flame and Sasuke, you're coming with me."

My team nodded, and Flame and Sasuke stood up and followed after me just as I started walking away. I glanced back at Zamina one last time, giving her a confident smile beneath my mask, which she returned.


	18. The Search For Sai

_I hate how little kids feel the need to scream whenever they're doing something. It's pretty ridiculous. Like, can they not do anything else? They're giving me a bloody headache, and I'm already sick enough as it is. Yay allergies. I'm gonna push out this chapter though, since I have commitments tonight, and I have to be awake for them. This will keep me occupied until then, I hope._

Return of the Fire Ninja – A Legend is Born

Chapter 18 – The Search for Sai [Kakashi/Zamina/Sai]

I glanced behind me; Sasuke and Flame were trailing behind me with Flame looking down at the ground as she walked, and Sasuke looking straight ahead. Flame was always the talkative one, and I wondered why she wasn't talking. It was rather unusual for her to not talk.

"Wait," Flame breathed. I stopped and turned to look at her; Sasuke and Flame had stopped as well, and the latter was looking around the area curiously before settling her gaze on me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I sense something," she said softly. I was a little shocked by the way she was speaking; I had never heard her speak that quietly before. The fact that she sensed something – something that I was just now noticing – shocked me a little bit more. We had no idea what it could have been, and any group larger than a trio would've been bad for us. I doubted that Flame and Sasuke could handle a large battle right now.

"Which way?" I knew which direction the energy was coming from, but I had to make sure. If we were sensing two different things, then there was no way that we would be able to split up and return to Zamina, Sakura, and Naruto alive. I wondered how they were doing; if they were alright... I knew Zamina would be able to hold her own in a fight, but Sakura and Naruto had to be exhausted from the previous battle, especially Naruto.

"That way," she replied, gesturing to her left. I glanced over that way, making a note of how nervous her voice sounded. When I looked back at my companions, Sasuke had his hand on Flame's arm in an attempt to comfort her. I put on a reassuring smile as I approached the red-haired girl and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Stay here, both of you. I'll be back," I said in a gentle voice. Flame and Sasuke nodded without any sort of argument; they must have just wanted to find Sai and get back to the others. Either way, their behavior was scaring me a bit.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Zamina's Point of View_

I looked around the area curiously. Sakura had helped Naruto over to a tree, which he was now leaning against. He was still recovering from the Kyuubi and its effects on his body. Sakura was sitting next to him, leaning on the tree as well. I sat a good distance away from them, glancing over at them occasionally. I was mainly looking around the area, half hoping that Kakashi, Sasuke, and Flame would return soon and half hoping that no one would come and attack us. Sakura would have to protect Naruto since he was in no condition to fight whatsoever, and I would have to do most of the work. There would be no way we would be able to hold our own against an enemy for a long period of time.

"Zamina-sensei?" Sakura called. I looked over at the young girl to see her gesturing for me to go over to where she and Naruto were. Reluctantly, I stood up and walked over to them; I had hoped that they wouldn't call me over. I wanted them to their own alone time while I pondered on my thoughts.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" I asked, kneeling down in front of her and Naruto.

"Sit with us. You look so lonely over there," Sakura said. I smiled shyly; I truly wasn't lonely. Yes, I missed Kakashi, but I knew that he would return safely sooner or later. Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt to sit with Sakura and Naruto.

"I would hate to intrude," I said. I hoped I could get out of it. I really did want to go back to pondering on my thoughts while giving them their alone time. At the same time, it wouldn't have killed me to talk to the two young shinobi. After all, Sakura did invite me over.

"You're not intruding at all. Sit down," Sakura said. She sounded insistent, as if she demanded that I sit down with them or she would do something that would probably make me regret not sitting with them. I moved from my kneeling position to a much more comfortable sitting position, awkwardly picking at the grass and ripping at it. It was keeping me occupied, especially since I didn't really know what to say around them.

The young children I had known three years ago had grown up so much. Three years ago, they were so young, so innocent. Now they had grown up a lot, and they realized the true horrors that their world presented to them. They had to face the harsh realities that their world brought them. Three years ago, I would've known what to say to them. Now, I just have no idea. They've changed so much, it's unbelievable.

"Sensei, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked. I could sense the curiosity in her voice.

"You just did, but go ahead anyways," I replied. A smile grew on Sakura's face after my response, and I couldn't help but smile too. Naruto had a goofy grin on his face too.

"Are you and Kakashi-sensei ever going to get married?" she asked. My face turned a deep shade of red, and I could feel warmth flowing through my body. It was a rather personal question, but I certainly didn't mind answering; that is if my reaction hadn't given it away already.

"I... well, yes. One day, we will. It won't be any time soon. He hasn't even proposed to me yet," I replied, shyly looking down at the ground. My blonde hair was partially covering my face now. I saw Sakura glance at Naruto, whose grin got bigger after my response.

"When do you think he will?" Naruto asked. It was the first time I had heard him speak since he had regained control after being taken over by the Kyuubi, and his voice sounded hoarse. It had shocked me since I wasn't accustomed to hearing him with such a hoarse voice.

"When he's ready, I suppose. I'm fine with waiting though."

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Kakashi's Point of View_

Sai's body was limp on the ground. I kneeled down next to it, hoping to any spiritual being, especially my former sensei, that Sai wasn't dead. For some reason, I felt like Tsunade wouldn't let me hear the end of it. I placed two fingers on his neck, desperately looking for a pulse.

"What the!" I exclaimed, falling backwards into a sitting position. The body had disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving nothing behind. It had shocked me; a dead body just disappearing never happens. I looked around, trying to hide the shock that I had felt.

Flame and Sasuke. I leaped up and ran back to where they were; if something were to happen to either of them, especially Flame-chan, I would be the one to blame. Not to mention my dearest Zamina would kill me.

"Flame! Sasuke!" I yelled as I saw the tops of their heads. They both leaped up from their sitting positions and looked at me curiously.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?" Flame asked. Well, at least she was starting to get back to normal.

"Nothing, nothing. We can go back now," I replied. She looked at me curiously, and I could already tell that wasn't the answer she was looking for. I watched her shrug her shoulders before turning around and walking back in the direction we had originally come. Sasuke moved to catch up to her, walking alongside her. I sighed and followed after them; she was bound to ask later, and I knew it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Flame-chan! Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. I watched him attempt to get up, only to fall down in the process.

"They'll come over. Just stay where you are, Naruto," Zamina said as I kneeled down next to her and looked at Naruto with a small smile growing beneath my mask.

"Did you guys find Sai?" Sakura asked. I looked over at her; she was still holding onto Sai's sketchbook.

"No, we didn't. We're going to rest up tonight, and we'll keep looking tomorrow," I said as Flame and Sasuke sat down near Naruto, who had just sat up. "It'll give Naruto a chance to fully recover from the Kyuubi's effects."

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Sai's Point of View_

I was caught. My attempt to watch Orochimaru failed. I had been captured in the process, and now I was stuck here. Who knew what would happen to me? They could kill me, or they could make me speak of what I knew. Not that I would speak... but I still had to get the information to Danzou.

A man with the Sound headband walked into the room that they had locked me in. He appeared to have a kunai in his hand. I already knew what they were going to do upon seeing the kunai; they were going to torture me until I gave all of the information I knew away. That wasn't going to happen though; I assumed that Kakashi and his team would be coming to find me sooner or later.

"Are you going to talk or do I have to force the information out of you?" the man asked, holding the kunai up to where I could clearly see it.

"Neither," I responded. The man slowly approached me, grinning evilly. I could only hope that Kakashi and his team arrived soon.


	19. Team 7 Saves The Day!

_So as I type this, I'm getting slammed by this cool kid named Irene. Yep, I'm getting slammed by that hurricane you've probably heard about. Well, not really. I'm kinda in that break period right now. But eh, it's all good. I'll be fine. I survived Isabel back in 2003, I'll survive this. School starts back up in a couple weeks too. xD But I'll leave you with this chapter, and hopefully that'll occupy all of you until I make my return with the next chapter after this one. So enjoy chapter 19! (: Just as a note, this chapter takes place two days after the last one. Oh, and I'm back in school now, and yes, I survived Irene. I'm just lazy. ;D_

Return of the Fire Ninja – A Legend is Born

Chapter 19 – Team 7 Saves the Day! [Sai/Sasuke/Kakashi]

"What a shame that he still hasn't told us any information," a pale man with long, greasy black hair stated. He shook his head as he stared at me.

"I'm not going to put my friends in danger," I snarled. Orochimaru just laughed, an evil grin forming on his face.

"Orochimaru, sir," a male that had just walked into the room called. Orochimaru was about to say something to me, but he took his attention away from me and to the newcomer.

"What? Can't you see I'm busy here?" Orochimaru asked. Great. Now he was pissed off.

"There's a group of six ninja from Konoha making their way here now. What should we do?" the male asked. Those fools! They were just walking right into a trap. Ugh, how did I get put into a team full of such idiots?

"Stop them at all costs. If they get in here, you better pray you're already dead because I'll have your head," Orochimaru replied. If that guy's head was going if Team Seven got in here, then who knew what he'd do to me! I didn't care to find out, so I casually started trying to untie the ropes binding me while Orochimaru's back was turned. When he turned back around, I stopped. "I'll deal with you later."

And with that, Orochimaru went away. So I went back to trying to untie these annoying ropes.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Sasuke's Point of View_

"Kakashi-sensei, I think I heard something rustling in the trees earlier," Sakura said. I saw Flame and Naruto nod in agreement. I definitely heard something too. Kakashi was just being too stubborn to believe us at the moment.

"It was probably just a squirrel. Just keep moving. We need to reach Orochimaru's compound tonight if this ambush is going to work," Kakashi replied. See? Point proven. It seemed like the only way he would stop is if someone started whining that they were hungry.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm hungry," Naruto whined. Kakashi just waved him off dismissively. Okay, so maybe he wasn't stopping if someone started whining that they were hungry. Maybe if his girlfriend said something, he would.

"Kakashi, maybe we should stop and eat," Zamina said. Kakashi waved her off too. Yeah, point proven. He was just being really stubborn.

"Kakashi, seriously. None of us are going to be up for any fighting at all, whatsoever, unless we eat and rest. You seriously can't expect us to go into Orochimaru's compound without any sort of rest or energy!" Flame said. She had stopped walking when she started to angrily speak to Kakashi. Finally, sensei stopped.

"Fine. We'll rest for an hour and a half. After that, we're moving on," Kakashi said reluctantly. Really? It took someone angrily speaking to him to make him stop and allow us to rest. Would have been nice to know that sooner.

"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat down where he was standing and rummaged in his bag for some instant ramen. Everyone had formed a bit of a circle except Kakashi and Zamina, who were still standing up.

"Flame, you're in charge. Your sister and I are going for a walk," Kakashi said. Flame merely waved her hand dismissively at Kakashi. So he walked away with Zamina following alongside him. Hour and a half break? More like we weren't ambushing Orochimaru's compound until tomorrow.

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Kakashi's Point of View_

"Kakashi, what's wrong?" Zamina asked quietly once we were far enough away from the group.

"Nothing, I'm fine," I replied. Did I really just lie to her? Great. Now I'm screwed.

"Hatake Kakashi, don't you dare lie to me!" Zamina exclaimed. Yeah. I'm screwed. Good bye life.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I murmured as I stopped walking. Zamina had stopped too, and she had even placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Tell me what's wrong, and maybe I'll forgive you," she said softly. I looked over at her, and I could see the comforting smile on her face. I knew she'd forgive me anyways; she just wanted to know what was bothering me.

"Promise you won't tell the kids," I murmured as I walked away from her to sit beneath a tree. Zamina followed me and sat down next to me. She nodded, and I let a sigh escape me. Now I kind of had no choice but to tell her. "I'm worried about Flame-chan and Sasuke."

"I could have guessed that," she said bluntly. The bluntness in her voice managed to bring a smile to my face, but it didn't stay there long. It faded away as quickly as it came.

"I'm scared that Sasuke's going to go back to Orochimaru, and that it's going to upset Flame-chan in the process. You remember the last time Sasuke left for Orochimaru. I'm scared it's going to happen again," I said softly. Zamina placed her hands on both sides of my face and turned it towards her.

"If Sasuke goes back to Orochimaru, you can cheer her up. I know she'll let you this time. She's grown to like you, even if she won't admit it. If it happens, it happens. We won't stop it. The both of us know that Sasuke wants revenge on Itachi, and it's not up to us to stop him," Zamina replied. She had a reassuring smile on her face. Like she knew what was going to happen when we got to Orochimaru's compound. So I nodded. I could trust her. She always knew what she was talking about. Well, except for the whole Flame liking me deal. I doubted that. "Better?"

"Yeah, I guess," I murmured. And then I heard her laugh. So I looked into her eyes curiously. Before I could even ask her what that was all about, she had pulled down my mask and kissed me.

"Better now?" she asked. A smile formed on my face. She was joking around now. I just knew it.

"Only if you forgive me," I replied jokingly. Of course she had forgiven me already. I just liked hearing her voice. I'm weird, I know.

"I already have, love."

/\/\/\/\/\/\ _Sasuke's Point of View_

If anyone on Team Seven wasn't in shock about Kakashi and Zamina's return in the hour and a half we agreed on to rest and eat, they were probably either insane or they didn't know Kakashi. And the latter option was clearly out of the question. And everyone was in shock. Especially Flame, who had run up to Kakashi and poked at him.

"Flame, I'm real. I'm not a clone. Could you please stop poking me?" he asked once he had finally gotten fed up with Flame's poking at him.

"But the real Kakashi wouldn't have shown up on time!" she exclaimed. Kakashi merely waved her off dismissively.

"That's beside the point. We should get moving if we plan on sticking to the ambush tonight. Let's go," he stated. And then he and Zamina walked off. Okay, well, if Zamina trusted him, then that probably meant that we should too. So we followed. Flame was one of the last to follow, and she followed reluctantly. "Does everyone remember the plan?"

"Yes, sir," Flame said. She had a sarcastic tone to her voice, but Kakashi seemed to have ignored it. "I went over it with them while you two were doing lovey dovey stuff."

I saw Zamina's face turn red after Flame's comment. Looks like she hit that bird with a stone rather well. Then again, any of us probably could have. We were all aware of Kakashi and Zamina's relationship. It was just that Flame was the only one who had the balls to say it out loud.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Later that evening, we were all hidden amongst the trees near Orochimaru's compound. Memories of my time there flooded back to me. How I had gotten stronger than the rest of my team. And then regret flooded up inside of me. Maybe I shouldn't have left. Maybe I should have stayed…

"Do you all remember the plan?" Kakashi asked again.

"Yes, Kakashi, we all remember the plan. We haven't forgotten it since the last time you asked," Flame replied sarcastically. Kakashi seemed to have blown this off too. Then again, I think we've all grown used to Flame's rather sarcastic comments towards our sensei. It was something we never bothered to complain about. It was just who Flame was.

"Great. Then, we'll enter the compound in pairs. Flame and Naruto, you guys go first," Kakashi said. The two of them nodded to each other, and then they dashed off in another direction for the compound. It was just a waiting game now.


End file.
